The Phnom Penh Tonle Sap and the River Cruise

The Tonle Sap, also known as “Large Fresh Water River” or "Great Lake”, is the combination of a lake and a river, shrinking and expanding with change of seasons, changing courses twice a year, makes its way throughout five provinces. It flows during the dry seasons and wets the dry and on the other hand, settles down calmly as a lake when it is full during the heavy rainy seasons. It sounds like a system designed especially for our Kingdom, a vein in us that wouldn't stop.

Fishing and Farming, these two words, all by themselves can make and nourish a life until the last breath. And, out of almost 8 billion people in the world, majority majors in these two subjects. Cambodia is no exception and the Tonle Sap is the motive.

Blessing the farmers on its twists and turns with uninterrupted productivity and prosperity in farming, it has been producing the world’s best rice. It is Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake; forever giving and never asking back.

A fish factory, it is, serving everyone here, with numerous shapes and sizes of fish, the most rare and the popular, with each of their own unique taste and glamour. I love to eat fish, most of the elders here do, too. Freshwater fish fresh from the freshwater; 'fresh' is the key word. Not fisherman but fishing-people; men and women, kids, elders, professionals, beginners;  they would wake up passionately, without waking up the Sun, grab their boats, the AMAZEBALL nets that would look like it is raining fish every time they are lifted up. It sometimes looks as if the fish came to play with the playful nets and they love it so much that they forget to return home and get caught in the end.

It is river cruising, the authorities don't think it would be fun jumping off the boat into the river, I personally would, if we're on the sea, but(a big but) into a river, tempting!

Jumping into the river? I know you are already into, in your heads.

What about a slide? What if I get a slide installed and we slide into the river, with few truck-tires drifting along the boat, waiting for us to hold onto and drift along if we wish to, you guys may have to make the sailor happy though. With the sailor in our side, we could literally turn the Tonle Sap into the Tone Sap River Park.

I would like to divide the day into three shifts of fun.

Shift One: A glass of cold milk with honey for me and a cup of latte to follow up, bacon with egg or just omelet; I guess, and serve them fish in the river some breakfast too and fish and broaden our patience.

Shift Two: Pineapples juice or Lime Mojito depends on how the weather is, Western is what I would have, a solid Hawaiian pizza and do not forget Tabasco sauce, would definitely make my tummy raise up the board that says '10 out 10' on it. 

Let's talk about the worst scenario that could happen, it's the fact that I get emotional whenever I miss my old Chinese school too much, despite all the memories that were placed nicely in my BIG FAT BRAIN, chives cake would work the best at this point of time, I'll just go and grab some then. Too early for the street food vendors to come out, probably later I'll need some corns or lotus seeds later at night.

Noon's hot Sun but breezy enough, a big fat nap on the deck under an umbrella or nestle in a hammock with a solid book and a never-ending-supply of lemonade; if too sweaty for some of you, then go for a slide off and drift along the boat, I will get the drinks slid to you too.

Shift Three: Let there be strobe lights, someone cue the music, burn some charcoal and meat on the barbecue grill, ping and pong or spin the bars over a Foosball and take “over-360-degree shots while watching 22 players trying to get the ball on a huge LCD screen right in front of your eyes.

Some considerations for the boat, it's been up for quite a while, let it be fueled up; the mainland has it all, it's the only reason why I'm here again finding some great foods for Mr. Timmy (it's my tummy). It's not like I'm on a diet, but simple food for the night would serve fine; Pat Thai and Tom Yum Gung, the Perfect Two. 

Off the dining table, having to walk a bit, and on the way picking up night snacks from the street food vendors, fireworks too, ohh wait! never to forget a cup of joe, probably will keep me up for some time, and we are to depart for the last time for today.

I believe that the last will be the best, party as hard as well, will use the fireworks too, hehehehe, as if it's legal, so unfortunate, but if it was, It'll be definitely shot st thr heart of the starry sky, let the stars and moon be known of Tonle Sap exists just beneath them. I wouldn't mind dancing with everyone, only if they don't mind, several shots of mocktails, since I'm not old enough for cocktails, we'll be ending the night with the goodbyes and goodnights.

P.S. This is my mind cruising and I bet, with friends, this is epic possible.

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The Phnom Penh Independence Monument

Independence, of course, means freedom. Being free is so powerful; either it goes terribly wrong in the wrong hands or it changes anything in hand for the good. The ability of doing whatever it is that we want, as we all know, our species likes it very much.

Freedom, I can see a squirrel, running and jumping and hopping and bouncing throughout the big wide rain forest full of Pine trees, from one branch to another, from one tree to another, with no restrictions, unconquered, free-spirited.

What could the squirrel do? Would she live peacefully or will something bad happen? Who knows if she's going to steal some seeds and cones collected and hidden in the soil or under logs and leaves in caches by other squirrels?

And who knows if she's just going to help the others pick the seeds and cones of Pine trees, help find cavities in Pine trees and help find homes for others and help make a community?

Both possible? Yes.

Just like the squirrel who has to balance running up and down and from tree to tree using her long tails and prevent herself from falling off and getting injured, independence has to be kept a close eye on to prevent the bad and encourage the good.

Countless possibilities, the two-faced Independence; problems occurred by the carelessness of handling it, its power is capable to either destroy or improve.

Let’s make it worth it, we all are worth it.

A laptop, a smartphone, and maybe a tablet by the side, considered being both necessary and unnecessary, to reach out to the world, get to know what's going on out there, staying in closed doesn't help at all, and it never will. Why only Facebook? I'm not saying it's bad, I'm using it as well, but posting that you're sick or you've just come back from somewhere, like who cares about that, they can't help, all they do is to like the post just because it’s from you and that you like theirs too, and that's it. Would you mind asking yourself that is it worth it to scroll the News Feed for hours and hours? Well, I used to do it, but that's until I realized that it's totally useless, time wasted, ain't nothing to get from it. How about reading solid books on the mowed lawn in the backyard with sunlight splashing hot but a sweet-sour lemonade plus ice to cool it down? Looks like a very good idea  me; as you see folks, we nowadays go to shopping malls, do a bit of bowling, movies, make rounds of all the floors, ice skate a bit; well, it' would've been acceptable if it wasn't for a friend of mine that goes to the Aeon Mall five days straight, you know what she said? "dude, I had nothing better to do.", she spent total of two and a half days out of her five days of life in a shopping mall, how questionable is that?

Life is outside, it's a door, open it, get out there, take some fresh air and keep some in your pockets, we have got an awesome life to live.

Sports, the best way to push away all the enclosures that are stuck inside our big fat brains, and we should not use our brains as a warehouse for what we call stress but it’s just we getting tangled between what everyone is doing and we should follow and what everyone will think and how everyone will not like it. We should use our brain as much as a factory to produce actions that will make this life one of the best products one could have.

Let us get soaked by the chemicals that are in our systems, because I know we don't like to sweat, it smells, we say. From skateboarding on the streets, reading a solid book at an open park, to wearing cool mask doing graffiti and filling an empty lifeless wall with life, and what else we cannot do.

We got to interact with people from all countries, talk to them about how life is out there for them, English, the international language, the ASEAN thingy, that's here already, let’s run this show with the best of the strobe lights we can make, get high, get awesome, get adventurous; life is calling, lets open the doors, the world is outside the door.

We as squirrels, jumping from one tree of life to a higher tree of life, let’s go higher and higher, never to fall back, never to stop, we should only aim higher and stay humble, set a point and no matter what it takes, let’s just go for it; ain't nobody got the guts to stop us, let’s fly from one branch to another, one branch at a time, let our independence be the propellant we need, let’s use it well, bring pride home, and never to think that we have done enough; let’s explore deeper, be braver, and get the most out of everything.

 “Movement in new direction helps find new cheese.”

― Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese?

It's not just a monument, it's the symbol of the Khmer Spirit, representing all Cambodians, young and old, to what is coming next, we'll fight for it. Like I already mentioned, it's ASEAN, guys! Let us stage what Cambodian lads hold in the heart, the spirit of not giving up.

A lotus-shaped stupa it is, A stupa (from Sanskrit: m., स्तूप, stūpa, Tibetan མཆོད་རྟེན་ chöten, Sinhalese: දාගැබ, Pāli: थुप "thūpa", literally meaning "heap") is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the ashes of Buddhist monks, used by Buddhists as a place of meditation; Wikipedia helps!

The Independent Monument, symbolizes the independence from France on November 9, 1953, taken back by our one and only, King Norodom Sihanouk, designed by our awesome architect, Vann Molyvann, who also designed our Olympic Stadium; the Norodom boulevard and Sihanouk boulevard intersecting at it, running pass through, making it a grand sight impossible to miss.

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The Phnom Penh Riverside

There is always something for everyone in the Riverside.

The place where everyone and everything gets united as one, life under the Sun and life under the Stars; Khmers and the rest of the world; lifestyles, professions, beautiful colours, all stages of the Human species and Life itself, proud cultures, food of all sorts of syllables I cannot even pronounce but for all sorts of taste buds, the Phnom Penh Riverside welcomes all.

The Wayfarers I got on, if you noticed, it actually reflects the Riverside, a place where there is always something for everyone. And, so I would also say, there is always one for everyone, LIFE, it's an AMAZEBALL.

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“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.”
(Courtesy. a German philosopher)

There are many and I came across this girl of must be 7 or 8 with her brother of must be 2 or 3 by the roadside. I was on the other side of the road and I sat down on the ground and took their picture and so, I asked myself if I would be able to see this life through their eyes and feel this life through their skin and express this place.

It is a Playground? Home? Bed? Dining Table? School?

Friends pass by dropping off some changes somehow, otherwise, to many, she represents the status of my Kingdom. How would it be like to be surrounded by people and places who and which represent fun and happiness and party and money and all the good times and yet, they all are just to be watched from the outside and she and her brother have learned it long time ago to just keep the smile on for almost everybody. It's either accepting it and surviving this cold war or giving up and dying from hunger and sickness. Their everything starts here, their nightmares and daydreams.

In some weird ways, they are somehow lucky to be able to at least see and experience this kind of life, 24/7, 365 days, riverside is LIFE, it's a part of them growing up, and if this life doesn't kill them until then, then it will anyways make them stronger.

Perhaps, a part time job when she is ready and hopefully attend a school and a college, they've worked very hard to wake up every day and live until they fall asleep every night. For all the things they don’t have and things they will never have and the very very few things they have, I wish them the best wishes I can wish and the very best of regards.

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Every Flag posted here has its hoisters here.

Time differentiates everything.

The first half of the day, everything shines, the liveliest of all, locals offer prayers for good luck for their businesses, happiness and a healthy life. Early birdies, mostly the elders, jogging, chatting with friends while the cool refreshing breeze blows, dancing to the music along with the instructor wearing sweatpants.

And there is our The Royal Palace, poised at the center of The Riverside, it could not have been just a coincidence to have the Palace and the Present Riverside to have come into play at the same latitude and longitude. Both showcase all the amazing attractions and stories and history and tradition and everything else that one could wish to see here in this Kingdom.

With all the best intentions, we have two-faced restaurants here at the Riverside; crazy amazing food of all kinds are served to crazy amazing people of all kinds during the day. And, the stars come out at night with parties and live music and dance and what not.

Somehow, I believe everything ends here with a toast to nothing else but the place itself which holds everything and everyone.Every Flag posted here has its hoisters here. This is us, Cambodia, with the will to welcome and greet and meet and share and learn, how we open our beautiful hearts to the world; there's something so special about this place, there is something so special about this life.

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Nobody knows everybody and everybody knows that.

It might be that he has given up, it might be that he feels hopeless or it might be that his life is irremediable. This Guy with old torn pants, with his face covered by an old hat, and taking a nap by the bench is the perfect case that represents the Riverside, Mysterious.

(The following nouns are pimped.)Divorcees and divorceds, widowers and widoweds, retireds and the fireds, the peer pressureds and discriminateds, hopelesses and hopefulls, sads and unluckies, losts and looking-fors, starting-overs and left-overs; Riverside has them all and so, no one is to be judged by the look. At the Riverside, nobody knows everybody and everybody knows that.The spirit of the Riverside is in all of us, the "Thumbs-Up" spirit.

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"What goes around comes back around."

Courtesy. Justin Timberlake

Just behind the main street, the Kondal Market, best of my childhood memories, grocery shopping with my grandma, I still did recognize the vendors, but they barely do, tons of changes have been made since my last visit and that was when my grandma was younger and I was child-er.

The Riverside, if you're wondering about the sources of the food you are served, folks, for most of it, the Kondal Market it is, fruits and veggies, all the meats, the still-alive-fishes, etc.

At one of the four-lanes at the Kondal Market is my childhood-superhit-to die for spot, the 'Chives-Cake' Shop; another piece of memory popping out as I sat down there for yet another shot at the classic. Its smell casted over and time-machined my mind back to previous Chinese School-Days when I was really into basketball and every day, my dad would buy me one or two after school. Every time I take a bite of it, I would tell myself that this is it; and after a while, I would realize that it’s all gone, heheheh, yeah! I ate them all.

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OMFG, I mean "Oh My Food God".

Hot smoky corns with its sweet taste, every time I have a shot at it, them rather; my mouth would fill up just like a crop harvester, and the farm would get emptied in one traffic light.

Expats be like, Ewww, Wats dat! but I be like, YUM YUM, I know it's insects and their kinds, and I don't know why it taste so good. Oh my Food God!Varieties of cuisines, French, Italian, African, Indian, Western, English, etc. to tiny potions of exotic snacks on streets; come on guys, you owe it to yourselves.

The cotton candy, again reminded me of when I was about eight or nine, I would run as fast as our Usian Bolt and snatch the cotton candies wrapped in plastic bags, open it with whatsoever techniques, and start licking it gently. The sugar would start melting, I would lick it in different directions, a Pyramid-like cotton candy it is, the power of saliva; mom would always pick up some medicines just in case I get fever afterwards, in anyways whatsoever, it was better than Nutella or Kitkat. It's the sweets of my childhood days, as simple and priceless as it should be.  

Food, food, food, you ain't going anywhere, your place is here in my fat timmy tummy, the spring rolls, meatballs, and the INCREDIBLY AMAZEBALL 'Fried Ice cream', they accomplished the 'Make-Hongyy-say-he's-super-full' mission; well done lads, I was like, OMFG, I mean "Oh My Food God".

On the way home was a smooth full-of-traffic ride on the tuk-tuk, I spotted an old lady wrapping and prepping lotus seeds, gotta tell you folks, I had no choice but to immediately call for a stop and jump right out of the tuk-tuk and get my after-dessert.

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Time has it all for all.

                                    

A few more years plus me and I will be there, my parties, my playlists, my soccer-game-weekend-nights; I'll be eagerly waiting. Cheers to the food, high-five to the people, lighters-up to the nightlife, and lastly, a shout-out to the freedom. My share of riverside-happiness will be given when time comes, I will celebrate my dreams become real one after another. Of course, a nice family dinner, some long talks with gramps, test-drinking, etc. are undeniable, too.

We all have a riverside in our lives. This is mine.

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