YES I AM!!!
Monday, December 14, 2009
My First...
time driving a car in Cambodia. Phnom Penh to be precise... well, it wasnt a long drive or a road full of horrendous drivers and riders... it was at night. well, 3 of us went for dinner and the initial driver was too drunk to drive... so i offered. he had his poison... WINE. lol. so, there i was, behind the wheels for the first time. felt really weird... its left-hand drive here in Cambo... so, as expected... was very tempting to drive on the left side of the road. took off, made a few turns, stuck behind some traffic... so far so good. it wasnt so bad after all. well, i cant compare that night with the peak hours during a workign day of course. it was my first... and a point was brought up; i have committed in total 5 offences on my first time! wtf??!?! below is the list...
1. Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
2. Driving without a license
3. Driving while using the mobile phone
4. Beating a red light
5. Driving without a safety belt on
hmmm... i think i would have been in jail for life and fines up to millions of Riels if caught. dammit!
LOL!
1. Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
2. Driving without a license
3. Driving while using the mobile phone
4. Beating a red light
5. Driving without a safety belt on
hmmm... i think i would have been in jail for life and fines up to millions of Riels if caught. dammit!
LOL!
Khmer Wedding Dinner
,i just attended my first Khmer wedding dinner last night at Toul Kork Center and i got drunk. how nice. well, it was one of my Manager's wedding and some of our staffs were there and thats when things can get pretty ugly, knowing how this Khmers drink alco. arrived with Susan around 7pm, horrendous traffic was the main reason we were late. there was another wedding at Mondial Center as well, hence the bad traffic.
arrived...
was greeted by Bona and brought in by him as well. some of the boys were there, Makara, Syed and Wendy. table loaded, food served. this is how Khmer wedding dinners work - food will only be served when the table is FULL (10 pax). if ur sitting alone, bad choice. go make friends and join their table. typical Khmer food was served as appetizers, then came the fish, the duck, the rice and thats all i can remember. i was tipsy by then.
there was a choice - Angkor Beer OR Red Label. those who know me would know the answer right on the get go. and for those who didnt know, i chose Red Label. that was my drink the whole night, with sips of Angkor that i have no idea how it got into my glass. one table would have one Red Label. i have no idea how my boys did it, but we had three. and all were gone!
the sad thing was i only lasted like 2 hours then i KOed. wtf... and i heard stories that i didnt remember of... skeptical... oh well... alcos will understand me... right?
arrived...
was greeted by Bona and brought in by him as well. some of the boys were there, Makara, Syed and Wendy. table loaded, food served. this is how Khmer wedding dinners work - food will only be served when the table is FULL (10 pax). if ur sitting alone, bad choice. go make friends and join their table. typical Khmer food was served as appetizers, then came the fish, the duck, the rice and thats all i can remember. i was tipsy by then.
there was a choice - Angkor Beer OR Red Label. those who know me would know the answer right on the get go. and for those who didnt know, i chose Red Label. that was my drink the whole night, with sips of Angkor that i have no idea how it got into my glass. one table would have one Red Label. i have no idea how my boys did it, but we had three. and all were gone!
the sad thing was i only lasted like 2 hours then i KOed. wtf... and i heard stories that i didnt remember of... skeptical... oh well... alcos will understand me... right?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
of Malaysians and Courtesy
COURTEOUS is like a rude word in malaysia, nobody uses it, heck applies it. every morning, drivers will be cutting queues leading to traffic lights, commuters barging in the LRT not letting others out first, and other daily routines we malaysians selfishly do.
i was just in Singapore a week or so back, and i noticed their MRT doors had stickers of their favorite local character named Phua Chu Kang, with a speech bubble that says "Let others alight first". ok, those are not the exact words but its along that line. thats fantastic... Singaporeans do practise that... except that handful of "kiasu" commuters. NOW, in Malaysia, we have the LRT... they do as much as they can to educate the people about this matter; drawing yellow lines with arrows, indicating where you should stand and so forth, having small stickers that says "Let others alight first" (yes, its along this line) and also PA. Malaysians being Malaysians, we dont see things like that and we dont hear things like this. as the train arrives, doors open... BARGE!!!!!
havent any of us heard of this line...
point noted... credit to the handful of Malaysians that practices COURTESY... kudos to ya'll!
i was just in Singapore a week or so back, and i noticed their MRT doors had stickers of their favorite local character named Phua Chu Kang, with a speech bubble that says "Let others alight first". ok, those are not the exact words but its along that line. thats fantastic... Singaporeans do practise that... except that handful of "kiasu" commuters. NOW, in Malaysia, we have the LRT... they do as much as they can to educate the people about this matter; drawing yellow lines with arrows, indicating where you should stand and so forth, having small stickers that says "Let others alight first" (yes, its along this line) and also PA. Malaysians being Malaysians, we dont see things like that and we dont hear things like this. as the train arrives, doors open... BARGE!!!!!
havent any of us heard of this line...
GIVE WAY, TO GET WAY
bla bla bla
i was just reading Bayon Pearnik's downloaded version of their December 09 issue and this actually caught my attention. be prepared...
2007 - Chinese year of the Chicken
Bird Flu Pandemic devastates parts of Asia
2008 - Chinese year of the Horse
Equine Influenza decimates Australian racing
2009 - Chinese year of the Pig
Swine Flu Pandemic kills hundreds of pigs/humans around the globe.
It gets worse........
Next year......
such an open-ended question... what could?? wouldnt we all want/need to know... hopefully males wont be asked to strip down to their boxers/underwear at the airports.
6 months on... what have i possibly done/seen in Cambodia for this time-flying experience? there are numerous... should i list it down... i think i should. it will sound a little wimpy but heck, i dont care! here goes...
now, how can i welcome you to Cambodia?
Don't know if this is just a coincidence or if I'm getting paranoid,but …
2007 - Chinese year of the Chicken
Bird Flu Pandemic devastates parts of Asia
2008 - Chinese year of the Horse
Equine Influenza decimates Australian racing
2009 - Chinese year of the Pig
Swine Flu Pandemic kills hundreds of pigs/humans around the globe.
It gets worse........
Next year......
2010 - Chinese year of the Cock
what could possibly go wrong............?
WTF?!?!?
such an open-ended question... what could?? wouldnt we all want/need to know... hopefully males wont be asked to strip down to their boxers/underwear at the airports.
6 months on... what have i possibly done/seen in Cambodia for this time-flying experience? there are numerous... should i list it down... i think i should. it will sound a little wimpy but heck, i dont care! here goes...
1. Have never seen traffic thsi maddening in my life! vehicles come from literally all directions and there is no right or wrong... unless the authorities are eyeing you from atop a tree.
2. Have never been a pillion rider so often in my life (im in my late twenties)... as i recall, i only pillioned like a handful of times back home in Malaysia.
3. I OWNED a crash helmet! what?!?!? its essential, riding pillion with a cap and sunglasses just wont do it.
4. I have been spoilt by having me dad to cook dinner for me almost every night back home... but over here... its self-service. practically cooking every other night in Phnom Penh.
5. Having 50 Khmer staffs under me is kinda terrifying. just need to get into their good books.
6. Speaking Khmer English is hillarious, but that is how it works here. remove 'S' when possible. then i figured, Khmers do not pronounce the 'S' simply because Cambodia was a French colony; and the French do not pronounce the 'S' in English too. excusable. but what about Thailand? nobody ever conquered them but they still dont pronounce the 'S'. reason?
7. Never felt so lonely...
8. Fav past times for tuk-tuk and motodup riders are "kicking their own slippers as far as one can, leaving the other in shame". beating each other up is another one too... playfully of course; Khmer boxing style.
9. Am nto somebody crowned the "Knighthood" by the Queen of England... but they tend to think i am. everywhere is "SIR...", "tuk-tuk SIR", "moto, SIR"... priviledge i never got back home.
10. Seeing motorbike riders literally standing up as they ride on, having a full load of lime on the back of their motornikes. lorries too... once, this dude got out of lorry and went straight to the top of the lorry, lifting up the electrical lines above so it would not tangle with their goods. key phrase - MAX EVERYTHING OUT!
now, how can i welcome you to Cambodia?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
