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!

Pchum Ben, Heaven and Me

15 days it goes, every single person must go to at least one pagoda. It is tradition. For my family, we got rules, we must only go on the fourth and the sixth day of Pchum Ben. Elders prefer to go to seven pagodas which was followed in the early and mid 20th century.

They say we go and offer food to all that have left Earth, our relatives from many generations are believed to be waiting for the offer.

I'm on the way to Kampong Cham, not actually my hometown, but grandpa's. Waking up as the owl went to sleep, the sun hasn't risen yet, mom's cooking and dad's preparing. We finish as soon as the sun is up, foods and beverages ready to serve. Priority of being an early bird, no traffic, no noise, a peaceful way to destination.

Prek Leap, a peaceful quiet town, with a population of less than 2000, stands in the southern edge of Kampong Cham Province. A not well-known town with kind people living in a neighbourhood of small cafes, a barber shop and some grocery stores. 

I see people living their life happier than ever. Five years from now, there weren't brick houses, no electricity, no potable water, not even a proper road. With cooperation between the government and locals, everything has become better. Finally, I'm here, an hour later, gramps like nature really much. Quickly hopped off the car and shook hands with everyone. Smiling faces made the atmosphere way better, locals from all the corners came and said hello, welcoming us like never before. Moving on to pagoda, beautiful art work from every single edges of the walls to the ceiling, making us feel as if we are taken back into the past. I'm trying to control my excitement but couldn’t. I got to see the statue of Buddha, a million times bigger than the sculptures I've seen in Toul Tom Poung Market. I've been really enthusiastic and obsessed over Buddha sculptors and statues.

In addition, giving away money to those in need is always good as donating money to the pagodas only can’t help the community much. My family brought food not just for our relatives in heaven, but also for the locals. We made one big pot of Khmer Curry with all the ingredients from Toul Tom Poung Market. We had smoky hot bread served right away from the bakery rice-made noodles to go with the curry. 

Happy Pchum Ben

The Phnom Penh Russian Market AKA Toul Tom Poung Market

Seynat, one of the many food vendors in Toul Tom Poung, has been living off the market for the past 17 years. She has a big smile for everyone passing by her stall no matter whether one stops by or doesn't. Her life behind the scene must be getting better, giving her that big smile. As I waited for my food, I noticed the uneven roof on top of me letting all the sunlight in, making me sweat like hell. The old fan tried its best, but I had to drink a cool pop anyway. Inspite of the uneven roof and the heat, the sweat and the old fan, the crowd and the noise, Toul Tom Poung is like a guardian to Seynat, taking care of her and her family.

After fulfilling my tummy, I went wandering around the market like everyone does. Well, Seynat’s food wasn't that great, but it felt like my mom's cooking. I felt full.

Holding another cool pop in my hand, I wandered through the narrow n crowded path,the veggies and spices area appeared rite in front of me.

The Veggies and Spices Section:

I find this section the most lively with wet n green lettuces, violet eggplants, reddish peppers, tall n white mushroom, young n old tomatoes, fat n crooked potatoes, bearded pinky shallots, grass - like chives and my favourite - broccolis.

There are various kinds of traditional spices all over the place, unique taste and smell. They say size doesn't matter, taste matters.

The Fish and Meat Section:

Next, I walked into the valley of the main ingredients and I saw everything I need. It was better than the pantry in MasterChef. many from the countryside, habit of waking up before the rise, carrying the nets and stuff, trying to find some real fish and sell it here in Toul Tom Poung. 

You will always find them very fresh n organic, caught by the hands of the fisherman, not by electrocution nor raised chemically. 

With nature as the only seed money, they do tend to work as hard as they could in their farms. Chicken, pork, beef, it's the best spot. You can choose to buy any part you want, the butcher sure has got some knife skills. Having nothing except nature as their guardian, on their seats all day long selling for little profit, as their food, as their life. Life is good.

The Motorbike-Parts Section:

I'm now at the motorbike parts section, well, you know, the best part about Toul Tom Poung. I save 90% of my pocket money and put it in my piggy. But people from countryside save their money by buying motorbike parts and make themselves one. Combining it one by one together, like playing LEGO, the gear, the turning light, the fuel tank and even the seat, every single part is available here in this section of Toul Tom Poung.

The Handicrafts Section:

Only 5 cm tall and 3 cm wide but inspires me every time. Amazing, awesome, incredible, that's all I can say. Some people might not have the same perspective as me, but for me, I don't even think it's actually possible. The small and tiny sculptures really give the sculptors a hard time.

Foreigners would see many things; colourful bracelets, magnificent paintings, Ancient-like cutlery sets, candles both scented and mosquito repellent, Bags made of bamboo skin (perfect replacement for plastic bags), miniature predator-movie-characters and motorbikes crafted from left over metal nuts. This section is MADE IN CAMBODIA.

Some might end up in foreign countries, might be shared to the relatives. We don't know where they would go, but all I know is that these handicrafts make us bond together as one.

The Clothes Section:

T-shirts, pyjamas, jeans, are all here, affordable for backpackers, don't forget to bargain. Tourists mostly love the traditional loose cotton trousers with the printed symbolic signs.

Not authentic, but trendy enough to keep expats and locals coming back. They got everything you need, the clothes section is a huge part of Toul Tom Poung, that also makes it a huge part of us.

Representing our culture, our country, it is the silk, well-known worldwide for its high quality. Tourists always want the smooth and shiny silk as their souvenirs, showing off that they have been to Cambodia, kingdom of wonder-silk.

Really exhausted, soaked shirt, just trying to walk. A few steps more... There it is, come on man! 3 m away, HHHH...! Finally! So, I got to eat the Chinese pancake with leek fillings, NOM NOM, the sound of a hungry kid eating.

Out…