Week end away

Tomorrow, I will travel to Kompong Som - Sihanoukville, with my colleagues. This place is famous for its white sand beach, so I'm really excited now :).

Live painting

Last week, a new club opened, and my company did its branding there. We organized a live painting session for the opening party, and also two really cool and impressives paintings on the club's walls. The artist is Peap Tarr from New Zealand, but actually living in Cambodia, and he is quite famous here. He was helped with Théo Vallier, a French artist, and Lisa Mam, a local artist. I took some pictures, but the quality is not really good, as I still don't know how to deal with low light, and I didn't want to use the flash >_<. I will upload some pictures from the event later. Here is a link to the artist work: http://peaptarrone.tumblr.com/.

A little teaser of the night.

Relaxing time

Today, I've been to a pleasant place. Driving away from the city, Cambodian families often go to places where they can share a meal, play cards or relax on hammocks. The place I've been is alongside the river, where owners have built stilt houses. It's like a restaurant, you can order food, or even bring yours and pay for renting a carpet. I ate chicken, vegetables, and a soda.

Two weeks later

Everyday my dad drives me to work, and comes to pick me up when the day ends. He’s not reassured to let me go by my own, so I got to see him every day. It is a bit weird situation, since I haven’t seen him for about ten years in a row. Getting used to it is not as difficult as I thought, but hearing him calling me “chérie” sounds quite strange to my ear.

Today he brought me around the city, and to some markets, where I've taken few pictures. Olympic market reminded me about Ningbo “shangye guang chang”. The principle is the same than in China: cheap clothes, Asian style design, over cute things, and bargaining is a must, especially if you’re a foreigner. You can find a lot of things there, from clothes to food, or goods for daily use. I've bought a pair of "tuoxie" (slippers) for $2, drank a coke for 1500 riels. DVDs from Sorya market costs $1.5, frozen yoghourt with toping approx. $2.5. Here you can use both currencies, US dollar or Cambodia Riels, and even combine the two together. Later I went to Lucky supermarket to buy some snacks. I've bought two packets of biscuits, a pack of tissue, and a pack of chocolate milk for 4$.

Now a heavy rain filled all the city’s streets, so I’m back home, waiting for the rain to stop before going wandering again in the city.

Olympic market reminds me a of a bigger Ningbo's "shangye guangchang"

Sorya market, more modern and air-conditionned, but also smaller choice and more expensive than Olympic. Eating a frozen yoghourt with fruits, yummy and refreshing !

Cambodian version of Denver the last dinosaur :)

Satin-smooth

Velvet feelings.

I just had a bowl of noodle soup and an iced cappucino for breakfast, and a drive around the city with my grandpa.

I am currently

Sitting under the porch of my grandparents house, reading old news and enjoying an evening breeze, while watching my grandfather doing some sport on a training bicycle.

First days in Phnom Penh

I just arrived in Phnom Penh this saturday late afternoon. I'm still a bit confused with the jet lag and travel fatigue. As I was packing my luggage at home, it reminded me the preparation to China, a year ago. I can't speak khmer so it will be a challenge for me to communicate with people that can't speak english, and still have to learn a lot about cambodian lifestyle and customs.

On my first days here, I mainly rested and visited relatives. I also ate breakfast and dinner with my grandfather, and went out with my dad.

Today, I visited the office where I will work for the next 6 months. I shook a lot of hands and get many business cards. A nice lady explained me different stuffs about the company and introduced me to co-workers. The position I will take sounds very interesting, and I will sure learn a lot during my stay in Cambodia :).