The Phnom Penh Wat Phnom

Trailer(usually not related to the movie you are gonna watch!)

My new "boys-stuff thingy", a Skateboard, was recently added to my life, it definitely makes me look super duper cooler. (Showing off) You guys could imagine me holding the board, with my Nikon, walking up to the temple,  I am ME, brilliant right? Never mind!

Wat Phnom, it is.

Who needs Freedom more?

What a gift! Freedom, oh Us!… The sellers would probably be laughing every time we buy the birds; all they do is to just catch some random birds, cage them, sell them to we, desperate to do good deeds and they get paid and that's business. Flying is now dangerous for birds, they go for a “fly” and they get trapped, how not cool is that? Not just the sellers will laugh, the birds will be like, "Seriously guys? You buying Us for what?”. Who is in the cage and desperate to be freed, you or us?

What is in Wat Phnom?

Basics would be that it is a Mountain Pagoda, a buddhist temple and so the name, Wat and Phnom being a mountain.

What about the name of the city, Phnom Penh?

Phnom means a mountain and Penh, as I heard, was a wealthy woman who was credited for founding the city. 

On the other hand, Wat Phnom has been also referred to as a Stupa, holding the ashes of one of our great Kings, right at the center of Phnom Penh.

This is, on paper, the centre of celebration on Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben. That, in real, would have been like selling Chinese (food) at Downtown Los Angeles.

This place is special, I feel cool about this place, about our culture, we sure have got a great one, we just have to treasure them hardcore. King's ashes (dunno whether it's still in there or not), ancient buddha statues and relics, walls filled with murals of all kinds, depicting history way deeper than the history text books we have studied. I wonder if we would get to study and understand our culture and history in our school text books, one and all must know as early as possible, I bet, else I aint gonna take History in my college and so are many of my friends and so it sounds like those who don't take Khmer History won't get to realise the epic of a history we have.

Walking around the "pagoda mountain", felt misplaced when I saw a clock, a massive one, installed on the ground.

Hickory, dickory, dock.

The mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck one,

The mouse ran down,

Hickory, dickory, dock.

Why is the tick tock clock in a pagoda? Mr. Holmes is on it.

It is all in here; the praying spots, one looks Chinese and the other looks Khmer. Leave Lord Buddha aside, a lot of deities of all features and powers and looks are there to offer and pray to.

My tip! just choose one and pray true and hard.  

Can we do better?

It's sad and questionable that a very historical place, Wat Phnom, has an article of very few short paragraphs with very limited information on Wikipedia.

 Who is to put it up there? Our history, treasures; definitely few are described full and complete while many are left behind. Who are to bring out those old dust-covered books from the shelves at our National Library and trace back Time and History and make notes and re-rewrite, not to make the existing look bad but only to pin more gems on the crown of the Kingdom of Wonder.

We definitely need archaeologist-likes, not to dig our ground but to dig deep into our great chronicles.

What would I do?

*Hongyy Investments & Co. mode activated* 

So... we're talking about a freakingly amazing yet dying yet upgradable park just in the middle of the city, imagine!….letting my flying pigs roll out! 

How about a night market? 

We make it bright, so bright that people would no longer be scared of the dark and celebrate every day of this LIFE until midnight (or dawn).

I like making things weird, but in a good way. Since ASEAN will be next year, occasions like Christmas, Halloween, and more should be added on to our list of extravagant celebrations. Not to forget our culture, we'll celebrate Pchum Ben, Water Festival and others bigger than ever; probably a Rio-like parade on the King's Birthday, sincere citizens and tourists and one and all, enjoying our unity in diversity. I could imagine ASEAN Committee or Board visiting Wat Phnom and approving to hold an open-air gala Lunch Buffet Meetings at Wat Phnom, with journalists from all over the world swirling around it; a definite Killer possibility!

To become one proud young Cambodian, I'll give in all I can. I am 14 and while trying to juggle between three schools a day, it might be hard for me to sit down and learn to write and then, write like a pro, but I bet, someday I'll have that flow to give not one of our historical places but all, a detailed portrait. 

The Bouquet of the Kingdom of Wonder

Imagine the foot of the Wat Phnom mountain wrapped up as a bouquet of its kind with the best of the best flowers of all colours, a gift from the Kingdom of Wonder to the world; NASA sats would see Wat Phnom as the "Bouquet of the Kingdom of Wonder" and include it in their list of "must-see views" from up above the horizon. 

Wohhh!

The Phnom Penh Royal Palace

The ride to the palace was a bit awkward, we stopped by a launder, my teacher got to drop his laundry, I can bet anytime that he's the (emphasise the “the” please) lousy guy. I wanted to look Ferang and so... TUK TUK!

The teacher woke up late, came late with his white T-shirt and a pair of shorts worth 5 bucks ( I would bet again) with lots of pockets. Me? Hoody in the Phnom Penh Weather, it even has got a hole in it, my latest Crocs, was feeling quite cool and weird. I wasn’t sure though if we were there to see the King or else.

One of the old players AKA guides, Khmer of course, called out, in very fluent English, informed me where the Entrance was, we were trying to get in through the Exit, classic mix-up! I replied in Khmer, he was shocked and I felt like he said something like “…but you are playing a Ferang today!”.

Through the ticket counter, $0.5 for me, $6.5 for the teacher (he aint Khmer), from the entrance after the entrance was impressive, well, it's The Royal Palace, it's meant to be an amusemento of its kind, I pananorma-ed the entire length of the palace campus right then and there. I appreciate the Apple.

The buildings were old fashioned, crooked in some ways, but without any doubt the most proud possession of my motherland. To those who built it, this shall and indeed is what immortality looks like. The design, a dude made this up? How? Well, Khmers are awesome.

We were asked to move to the other side of the Palace campus, He was on his way out, what a timing, I thought, positively, but I didn't even get a chance to catch up(as if he’s on my fb) hahaha!...must be my crocs and the hoody!

Crowded as it was, all wanderred around like a group of paparazzi, what if the King stopped by and said hello? Unbelievably impossibly crazy! Kings won't do that, would they? I'd just hope it'll happen someday, where we can have tea with him, show our love towards the boss of the Kingdom of Wonder. what if we could chat with him on Facebook or Skype! 

Thinking back of my childhood, well, I'm still in it, comparing it to the King's childhood, I wonder what he was like, of course he's human, he has a life, he probably had less fun than us (a bit of sarcasm here), but I bet his childhood was also awesome in so many other ways,  this is how this farmville AKA life works. Meeting him someday would be like "Woh!" I don't even know how to imagine it, it won't be put as an “honor" but as a gift, it might change life, chatting with him, listening to him, drinking tea with him and understand the way he lives his life, the way he sees us, the way he feels as a human who lives in a palace.

As a younger citizen, I have to suggest some new paintings on some of the buildings, then everything will be MAGNIFICIENTOOOO...

I’m not good at pointing out things but things that affect my heart even as a kid, the education programming, teachers not getting enough salary, floody and crooky environment, they have to be fixed. For the country itself, for our future, for our generation, I know we will someday rise at the top of the leaderboard.

I’m not good at suggestions but a movie-session routine, not just for the young ones, but for everyone involved, showcasing our awesome culture and tradition, amazing history that we must carry on for all the Khmer generations this earth would hold.

Currently at the same spot as the Central Market, this place is no cool for younger citizens of the Kingdom, I have to admit that I do feel the same, but "HOPE"-"FULLY" that it might change, it can change, it should change. 

Let's move to “The Business Today” magazine mode, revenue from the visitors, can't assume how much we get, but still, I don't think it's small. People are suffering from almost everything everywhere, the money might at least be a part of the help, this year Kunthea Bopha Hospital, next year the orphanage, keep the list going, and people might live, not survive.

Let all those international events be as they are, no sweat, they'll keep coming,  but we have to move fast  and think fast and act fast in order to keep our culture posted so high that even someone at the top of the Mt. Everest would wish if he or she could see us, the only Kingdom of Wonder of the World.

To make a royal palace worth fighting for, dying for, living for and celebrating for, anyone that has access to the blueprint must have to figure something out.

With the best of my Khmer Pride, may I ask,

“What should and could we as the citizens of this Kingdom of Wonder do to make this Palace the Palace of the world?”

It was just me and my flying pigs

again. Royal and Palace, these are two super executive words, the Italian marbles (with Simpsons on them…may be), a revolving bed (may be.. full of Plushies), best of the best cars(Transformers…may be), tuxedos( I would wear them with my Chucks…may be) and I think I should stop here. Folks... humour me! I just turned 14.

The Phnom Penh Central Market AKA Psa Thmey

Let us start with Food. She was almost done deep-frying her prawns, we weren't aware until she gave us the “get lost” look. From the distance, I had thought of how generous she could be, did  think of  asking her for permission and then only photo some of her food-art, thank her and leave but gave a red card straight  on my face and got send away.

Reversed my gear and stopped by the lady with the Crab Pickle. She let me photo her Crab Pickle and so I did with a watery mouth. This Food Section of the Central Market has plenty of side-dishes filled with the ones I dig, the ones I would store if I were prepping for the apocalypse, the pickled ones of cucumber, crabs and lotus.

There, you will witness Roasted Gold, my grandpa's favourite fish roasted until it turns golden. Back in the Khmer Rouge, it was really a gold of its kind. The lives back then, they didn't live but survived, comparing it to now, it is hell and heaven.

Grandpa told me stories, the rarest kind, the ones he lived to tell, in which he fought, survived, worked, lived, kept the family harms away and away from Satan.

The grilled squid followed. The smell of the burn of the skin of the chicken(s), the scent of the mint leaves and the heat in the air from the chilli paste, but I just took pictures of them. I didn't have allowance enough for the squids but watered my watery mouth with sugarcane juice.

Another exhibition of God's art, the Seafood, its tastes and textures, making it one of the world’s most fancied food. The widely known Central Market, seafood is one of the reasons, distributes it all around Phnom Penh. There are schools of fish with their heads popped out of the ice valley shouting “who’s gonna save the world!”. The mussels and oysters look very comfortable as if they know they are worth. The crabs and lobsters, as always, along with their sellers, do bargain in their own ways. All of them somehow make my imagination turned into a kite made out of a Seafood restaurant poster and fly high.

Fruits are next, bright yellow jackfruit, Brazil-Soccer-Team-Jersey patterned bananas, baskets full of tennis ball looking oranges, the rose-red apples, watermelons and their authentic stripes, the cactus-like pinky fruit that made me looked stupid when I asked my mom about it, give the stalls an incredibly colourful Rio-Parade look. The stalls with their hangers, always looked to me like a tree of its kind bearing all of the fruits, all the colours, shapes, sizes, values and tastes.

Captain Jack Sparrow probably collected his Ornaments from the heart of this oyster AKA the stalls at the heart of the market. I am a bit romantic and so I have always imagined myself giving Julia a chain of pearls like the one that Rose had in Titanic, affordable though. I opened my wallet, took a peek... Kek kek! *cough* Sorry Bae, next time, I am 14. Bracelets, rings, earrings, made from precious rocks, jade, diamond, gold, silver, bronze, Julia's likes, I bet, in any ways, they would serve just enough for popping the Big Question, “Will you marry me?”.

So much of the Generation Gap, from Cafe ta-kork AKA Khmer Iced Coffee to Chatime and KOI, from Nom Korng AKA Khmer Donut with melted palm tree sugar to Burger King, spots like the Central is never thought of as a place to hangout. Youths are not going to compare it to the Aeon Mall, two different things, to be honest, I, myself, wouldn’t hangout there. The Youth probably envisions a huge signboard at the Central reading "Visitors and Shoppers Only!”.

Thanks to Louis Chauchon, the awesome French architect who designed the initial blueprint of the market but (hehehe) he could have done better.

Despite the fact that a lot of people were there, and I'm just 14, as an excuse, I wanted to but didn't have the guts to lie on the floor and take an incredible panorama view for you folks.

If I were to put my brain into it for a bit, let’s say you imagine me as the Governor, Wow! The Central Market? Got many things to upgrade. 

I would decorate it every time there comes celebrations and occasions and holidays. Parking would be the main project, It’s traffic jam all day long around, probably an underground parking would be awesome, it's not impossible!

I would put on few floors more on top of the centre with an open food court on the rooftop with a garden, a public library cum coffee house on the second floor serving classic Khmer coffee and also showcasing traditional Khmer dances to the visitors…..it would have been magnificanto, wonderfullest, amzingee, etc.

I would install an awesome fountain rite at the center, a small garden cum park around it from where you could sit and enjoy the LIFE, the Central Market holds. And a seating which lets you lie down and take killer pictures of the centre of the market which to me represents the true meaning of the name of the market itself. 

And I just realised that it does look like a Big Headed Spider, like the ones in Harry Potter but with only four legs. I would also call it a mini Ben (Big Ben). 

Koh Rong Samloem

The Night before the Day:

So, mom’s out of town, I felt hopeless, she would have packed for me. Picked the Ts and shorts I thought were fresh and forced them into the small pink duffle bag I found; mom’s away, duh!

It was probably the first time I set my alarms enthusiastically and reconfirmed that I did. My sleep had to fight hard with my excitement and I favoured both.

My Dad Planted a Tree:

My dad planted a tree on the day I was born and I am 13. And, I think of myself as fairly tall and handsome. I woke up few minutes before the alarm, my rowdy friends won’t stop tweeting right beside my window.

Elsa of Frozen:

I become Elsa in the movie, Frozen, every morning. I have an alien immune system which comes with a few minutes of frozen joints every morning right after I wake up and I have trouble getting up until I am warm enough to an extent. A glass of cold milk with honey works somehow.

Flying Pigs:

Dad saw me off and so it began. With the Beats Pro, I slept the whole drive with no pride, with an open mouth as if I saw flying pigs.

The Punishment:

We didn’t offer prayers at the site where located are local deities to whom travellers offer prayers for good. So, we got stopped by officials for speeding. Later, we realised that every single car was charged with speeding for five dollars on the occasion of Pchum Ben.

Chelsea Vs. Man City:

We checked in at around 4 pm after about 3 hours drive. The elders went for a swim, I joined them, had nothing better to do, listened to their talks, ate, took me to a bar (none of them drink) where we played ping pong, ate banana pancake.

Finally we got back to the hotel, I rushed and got into my pyjamas, all set to kill the night and rise up ASAP to the day which held the mother of all of the excitements I have had so far.

You can watch Chelsea Vs. Man City on channel 35. Dharmen, one of the teachers I was sharing room with, kept shouting, jumping off the bed for another 90 minutes with an added time of 4 minutes. 

I don’t understand soccer with 22 people running around, trying to get a ball.

The Morning:

Not my room, my toilet, my bed, my toothbrush; strange morning to start with. The alarm meowed and meowed until I woke up. Got changed perfectly, I told myself that I looked awesome. No regular mom-cooked porridge and milk with honey but bacon and egg filled in. All set.

At the Dock:

I knew expats are usually taller but I also considered myself tall until I was among them, I just had no choice but to erase myself from the map.

The tiny boat that we were to get on was full, instead, a humongous speed boat suddenly drove in, God was being generous. The excitement cloud popped above my head as the speed boat drove in, I was 45 minutes away from something I have really wanted to try, snorkelling. The speed boat turned and set course.

The 45 Minutes:

I couldn’t stop laughing about the captain who sat with his legs crossed together and gossiped on the radio with the other boats around. The awesome glass ball-looking compass and the radar map blew my mind away, it wasn't something I could see often.

The 45 minutes was short, but rare. I got to sit near the funny captain, observed how the map and compass work, and also was my first time to be on a speed boat.

Checking In:

Koh Rong Saloem, finally, only we got off. I guess the rest was going to the main Koh Rong Island, it didn't matter, a stunning untouched island was right ahead of me. My companions AKA my two teachers were very careful, the fact that there weren't ladders to get off, getting off the boat with the help of the helpers. I was the maze runner, dashed off quickly from the dock, found the bathroom, changed into my beachwear in the speed of light, and ran back toward the water like running from an apocalypse.

The Wait:

Rejuvenating to full health, the waves and the speed boat did try to make me seasick, but the most awesome pineapple juice at the counter served just like an emergency aid package. The energy bar went up as I waited for the snorkelling instructors to get ready; they looked cool, I looked cooler.

The Fish Sauce:

The blood pressure sure went up, it was hectic, the gears, the oxygen tanks, the suit, each of them made an impact on me. The pros were doing there things as usual, checking here and there, and the captain pumped up the engine, we were ready for my first dip in the bowl of fish sauce.

The Fins:

To the snorkelling spot starts now, 15 minutes between me and the fish sauce dip, stopping me was impossible, divine intervention were to decide. I was thrilled, I told myself, it's gonna be AWESOME.

The crew were changing when I climbed up the boat to heaven with the pineapple juice. They're indeed professionals, they looked actually the same as those I see on National Geography.

Putting on the gears, actually, wasn't that hard, just struggled a bit with the fins.

The Morning Dip:

Jelly fish were there, who cares! Top speed of 8 km/h, Phhff! I canon-balled into the water, beneath were life, predators and preys showcasing nature's nature, if they could speak, they would have probably said, "Life is hard”.

Since it was near the shore, peace was always there, small colourful fish and other creatures, the coral reefs, magnificent is how I described them. It was like love at first sight, I was dumbfounded by God's masterpiece, realised that it is how He rocks.

Toms were a little far away, Jerrys looked safe and sound, and I waited and stared at them hoping there would be that classic chase at any moment.

This morning dip was refreshing, amazing, hard to describe. Scratches weren't the matter, it was the crabs, as fast as an F1, none of them ended up in my tiny bottle. On the way to the shore was a great experience, even it's so was just a two-minutes-swim. I introduced the Selfy culture to my new friends, took some with some jelly fish, some fish, some reefs, and even said hello to the schools of fish, like a happy family, probably going for lunch. And, so the crew called for lunch.

The Lunch Break:

No changes made but into a towel for lunch, Bravo! The locals fulfilled my tummy, and the 30 minutes nap was actually like the pineapple juice I had in the morning, battery's full. And came the crews' call which sounded like a notification, ”Please plug off your charger".

The Afternoon Dip:

The canon ball was and is and will always be the right choice. Afternoon was great after a big fat meal with a "nap" side dish, there was a change of location and we passed by the local fishing village and I got to witness how local kids live, fishing, playing along the beach, spending their childhood far preciously than me.

What underneath was something I could give an award for, beautiful, gorgeous, astonishing... It wasn't just a trip, it was a lesson too, a priceless experience. 

Thinking of fish, why not catch one? Hahaha! After using my natural instincts to the most to hypnotise and attract any fish passing by, OMG, one naughty ended up taking my unprofessionally attached bait, getting hooked and later fried. I continued confidently, ended up humming "the one that got away" by Katy Perry while losing to the fish in the tug of war.

The JLO in Me:

I knew it was jealously aka JLO aka Jennifer Lopez, seeing them doing things that none of the city kids do, their childhood is for sure cooler. They live on my most favourite place, the beach, crazy combination of nature. I won't forget that moment, the gears and I were soul mates, it was so hard to say goodbye.

God sure created nature to nurture us, wow us, his masterpieces are above "perfecto", have fluttered all hearts. We love them , we would always want to keep them safe in our pocket, protecting, loving….

Like I said, "Life is hard, but God didn't forget to give us some happiness”. Miraculously, I was able to experience a “never-before experience”. Two days was never enough, but what was saved well were the memories, saved as a file on my storage, and will probably be there until I'm buried, or unless I forget to install the anti-virus program.

I do plan to upgrade my storage, else it would fill up soon, I heard that iPhone 6 comes in 128GB too. 

As you heard, I described the island as untouched and it also applies even the water under the dock. There were schools of fish hanging out down there, too. I snorkelled for another hour under the dock. I made a new, cool friend, Snorkel.

The Unsinkable Sank:

On the way back to mainland was like the scene from Titanic, it was all sad. Time didn’t walk, it took the subway, it wooooooshhhhed away.

The day was fun, it was fun, it was indescribable.

The Last Supper:

Dinner was super duper late, my first ever almost 9-o'clock-dinner, my honest tummy almost gave up but a local banana pancake, earlier, backed him up. Thats what I spent my first two bucks on the trip any ways and was totally worth it.

The Hoodies:

Importing the photos to my laptop, they were all great, sincerely, simply awesome! Pyjamas were in which I used to roll until this trip, hoodies took over the trend and it’s been on every single night since then.

This trip proved to myself how lucky I am, luckiest rather. The culture is strict, there is not much freedom as a teenager in Cambodia but a father who lived abroad does give me a very open lifestyle, I came on a two nights-three days trip 350 kms away from home with three adults (two teachers and a friend of theirs) who he has never met.

Thanks, Dad!