| Blog

Expat Q&A: On not teaching English and giving blood

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

In this series we talk to Cambodia expats about what they wish they had known when they first moved to Cambodia that they know now.

Barb enjoying a weekend in Koh Kong with her pug, Chook.

Today we hear from Australian expat Barb Eason. Barb originally came to Cambodia in 2001 on holiday–she fell in love with the place and moved over in 2005. Three years ago she started a small soup kitchen for working children which, in collaboration with some friends, has since grown into an international organisation called Voice. Barb has some amazing stories to tell (read her blog) and has a plea for those of you who want to help Cambodians–please give blood! Read to the end to find out more.

MTC: Barb, what do you know now that you wish you had known when you first moved to Cambodia?

BE: “I wish I had known how much I dislike teaching English before I spent a couple of grand on a TEFL course that no school recognized anyway. It might have been a good idea to volunteer teaching English at home before coughing up big bucks on useless certificates. And the money I spent would have covered my living expenses for longer than I actually taught!

Being a fussy eater, I wish I had known that bones aren’t removed from most dishes and lots of things have bits of intestine, coagulated blood and liver in them. Unless you are going to eat only in restaurants catering to foreigners, learn some food-related Khmer as soon as you can. Mee char boon lai (stir-fried noodles with vegetables) is handy in the countryside. If you must have meat, pork and beef dishes generally don’t have too many bones in them.

I wish I had known that you don’t have to attend every wedding you are invited to. Nor do you have to stuff an envelope with cash for every wedding invitation you receive. My rule of thumb is: If I have never met you, I will not put money in an envelope for your wedding (take note ex-landlord: I have never met your niece from Kratie.) If we are friends I will happily don a sparkly sequined number and go to your wedding with big hair, loads of makeup, comfortable shoes and an envelope stuffed with dosh. (But I will eat a hearty meal before getting there – refer to lesson learned above.)

I wish I had known that ice in your beer is a good thing. Learn to love it. Keeps your beer cold. Helps keep you hydrated. Win-win.

On a beer related note, I never could have predicted that I would lose the ability to read the word “Anchor” the way I used to. Or even say it for that matter. This won’t make sense to everyone. Sorry.

I wish I had known that my favourite time to be in Phnom Penh is during the big holidays – Pchum Ben and Khmer New Year. When the city empties out as everyone goes to visit their families in the provinces, Phnom Penh becomes a ghost town. Hire a moto and learn to ride, have a picnic by the river, rollerskate down Monivong Boulevard. Make sure you have stocked your fridge though because nearly everything shuts down. For the first few years I joined the masses in the gridlocked pilgrimage to the overcrowded beaches and double booked hotels, catching taxis that charge twice their normal rate before I discovered that Phnom Penh is capable of being a peaceful haven.

I wish I had known that red ants like damp towels. They will hang out in the little loops of the weave in droves, gangs, squadrons, armies. And there they will wait, wait, wait until you are drying your lady parts (or man parts as the case might be) to launch their merciless attack. Their hatred for human genitalia is unrivaled in the insect kingdom. Keeping this in mind, antihistamines (tablets and cream) should always be kept in the home. That trip to the pharmacy is a very uncomfortable one…

I wish I had known that donating blood in Cambodia is not as scary or dirty as I had naively believed. Since meeting and working with kids who have Thalassaemia, a genetic condition that requires regular blood transfusions simply to sustain life, I regret that I had not become a regular voluntary blood donor as soon as I had arrived here – I could have donated 23 times by now. If I could pass on one thing to newcomers and visitors to Cambodia, this would be it. Donate blood every four months. Most people want to ‘give back’ or do something wonderful for the people of Cambodia. Don’t visit an orphanage – visit the National Blood Transfusion Centre. Come and see me if you’re scared or don’t want to go alone, we run blood drives all the time and I know lots of kids that need a unit of blood with their name on it. “

You heard her, folks. Please donate blood. You can get in touch with Barb via Facebook at www.facebook.com/VoiceInternational or through www.voice.org.au.

Snaps: Barbecued eggs on wheels

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

Grilled eggs on wheels.

I snapped this photo of a grilled egg seller near Olympic Market in Phnom Penh when I was putting together a set of photographs of mobile street food vendors in Cambodia. Grilled eggs (pong ang) are a favorite Cambodian street food. The egg is mixed with salt, pepper and a bit of lime and stirred up in the shell and tossed on a mobile grill. Then the grilled egg man drives around all day playing a recording announcing that he’s selling barbecued eggs (and that they’re delicious). Sometimes, you’ll see a grilled egg man with family in tow, like in this photograph.

Review: The Place Gym, Phnom Penh

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

The Place is widely believed to be the best gym in Phnom Penh (except for the few dissenters who favor the Sofitel), and it’s certainly the most expensive. They’re doing another rate hike on June 1st, so if you are thinking of joining, go now. I reluctantly joined last year and after six months of membership, offer you this unbiased review.

Laps or lounging, your choice.

The Place is huge–there’s an outdoor pool, a floor of mostly free weights and other weight equipment, another floor of mostly cardio, including at least twenty treadmills and half a dozen crosstrainers, plus a room of weight machines. On the top floor are studios for classes, which are included in the membership prices. Some of the current offerings are: spinning, yoga, pilates, body pump, zumba, stretching, Khmer dancing, and karate.

Pumpin’ iron Phnom Penh

The Place is an undeniably nice fitness center–air-conditioning throughout, everything is super clean and all of the machines have been recently replaced with Technogym equipment, which is apparently very expensive and high tech. The cardio equipment all have television on them that also, to my great pleasure and dismay, have solitaire and other card games. This slows one’s pace down considerably, but can keep me on the machine for an hour.

Personal training fees are $20 for most of the trainers, and the friends I have who use the trainers are happy with the training.

Playing solitaire while running–not easy, but well worth it.

Lest it seem that I am completely happy with the Place, let me enumerate its lesser qualities. They’re clearly doing everything they can to make the place more expensive–immediately after adding the Technogym equipment they put up signs saying that if you wanted to learn how to use it, you should pay a $20 training fee. Much of the equipment is confusing, and the staff aren’t proactive in helping you figure out how to use it. Members don’t get to bring guests, ever. I tried to bring a friend who was willing to pay the exorbitant daily rate, and because we wanted to go for a class, leave for lunch and come back and use the weights, we were told he would have to pay for two day passes, for a total of $30. It’s a ridiculous policy and goes a long way towards alienating their members.

Despite going there five times a week, I feel no affection for the place, which is a shame. Nonetheless, I will continue to go there. If you’re looking for a high-end gym in Phnom Penh, this or the Sofitel are your best options, and The Place is the most central.

The Place to be.

The new rates starting on June 1st are: 1 session, $15, 10 sessions (in one month) $130, 1 month $180, 3 months $380, 6 months $600, 1 year $880, 2 years $1,450. Around the big Cambodian holidays they usually have promotions that give about $100 off for a year-long membership, but the promotions seem to be getting smaller and smaller.

The Place

11 Pasteur St (Street 51), across from Wat Lanka, BKK1, Phnom Penh
T: 069 876 777
www.theplace-gym.com

Print edition of Move to Cambodia now available in Cambodia!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

I’m happy to announce that at long last, the print edition of Move to Cambodia is available in Cambodia! You can find it at any of the Monument Books outlets and both airports. In Phnom Penh, there are discounted copies available at the Empire and Garage. Copies will be available at the Flicks later this week. If you work for an organization or NGO and would like to purchase copies for your interns, volunteers or new employees, please contact me for bulk purchase rates.

a stack of the Move to Cambodia paperbacks

The print edition of Move to Cambodia is now available in Cambodia!

Move to Cambodia covers a hundred topics pertaining to new expats and makes the perfect gift for someone who has recently arrived. The Advisor called the book “Required reading for anyone planning to move to Cambodia. Buyers will easily save ten times the cover price in heartbreaks, headaches and cash.”

Review: Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel, Siem Reap

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

The Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel is the latest high-end hotel offering in Siem Reap. It opened at the beginning of the year and I had the good fortune to stay there on a recent trip to Siem Reap.

Welcome to Siem Reap’s Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel.

It’s peak hot season in Cambodia, and Siem Reap always feels much warmer than Phnom Penh. That’s probably because it is much warmer than Phnom Penh, and at this time of year a few degrees makes a big difference. Which is why, during hot season, I always look for a hotel with a pool.

The Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel is a new 4-star hotel that has a couple of things going for it. There’s a pool, for one, with a nice pool area and sun loungers. (Dear reader, my apologies for not getting a photo of said pool).

Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel in Siem Reap

Not bare bones and not tackily overdone…this porridge is just right!

The rooms are tastefully decorated, which is surprisingly uncommon for many of the nicer hotels in Siem Reap, which tend towards a dark, wood-heavy, overdone Chinese aesthetic that I find smothering. Angkor Heritage, on the other hand, have bright, airy rooms featuring cute wooden desks, fridge (with fruit plate!), air-conditioning and an overhead fan. I was treated to a large princess bed and my friend ended up with a large room with two double beds. My room had two sets of doors to help block noise, and I had a very quiet stay. The bathrooms feature a bath and separate shower and all of the typical amenities you’d expect at a nice hotel.

Have a bath, this is one of the few tubs you’ll find in Cambodia.

The other nice thing about the Angkor Heritage is that they’ve put in a lot of work on their lovely gardens, which are filled with tropical plants and make the place feel like a relaxing oasis. They’ve also got a restaurant which I didn’t try, but the attentive staff leads me to believe that it would be a nice place to sit and enjoy a drink after a day of touring the temples.

The place is fairly centrally located, a $2 tuk tuk ride from Old Market (and there are lots of tuk tuks at the end of their little lane). Right now they are having some great deals on rooms for low season–they’re around $50 on Agoda, but they’re certain to go up in high season.

Would I stay again? Yes, definitely. Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel is a really nice place with remarkably low prices for what they are offering.

Check out Agoda for the current (and lowest) rates at the Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel. Or, have a look at other hotels in Siem Reap.

Snaps: Pouts and snouts

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

An early-morning pig’s head in Siem Reap.

I took this photograph while out on an early-morning visit to Siem Reap’s Old Market with Joannès Rivière, owner of Cuisine Wat Damnak. Seeing him banter with all of the market sellers was amazing, and made the pain of waking up at 6:30am worth it.

This freshly-slaughtered pig was laid out on the table and every bit of it, from snout to intestines, was for sale. The Brits think they’ve caught onto something gourmet with nose to tail cooking, but Cambodians have been doing it forever.

Review: The Sushi Bar, Phnom Penh

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

Since it opened not so long ago the Sushi Bar has taken off, experiencing a popularity not seen by any of the existing sushi joints in town–on weekends there’s a line of Cambodians and Japanese and Western expats impatiently waiting for a table. Why’s it so popular? The menu is huge and the prices are low. And possibly because their menus say ‘Sushi is not only tasty but also funny!’

The Sushi Bar: Cheap, cheerful and funny(?)

The Sushi Bar on Street 302 in BKK1 is the first Phnom Penh launch of this Vietnamese chain, but it seems likely that more will be on their way. It may not have the best sushi in town (I’ll let Kanji keep that honor) but it offers the best value-for-money sushi in Phnom Penh.

The menu features a huge selection of sushi, from sashimi to hand rolls to nigiri. They’ve got a great nigiri plate that features 9 pieces of sushi for $5.80. The quality is about what you’d expect from a sushi chain back home; this is not artisanal hand-crafted food, but it’s still pretty damn good. They’ve got bigger sushi platters with 16 pieces for up to $18. I once foolishly ordered one of these thinking that because they were more than twice the price of the small plate, the pieces would be special in some way–better quality fish or more interesting selection. Not so. So stick with the small platters and ordering by the piece.

Sashimi platter at the Sushi Bar in Phnom Penh

Value for money: $5.80 sashimi plate.

A salmon maki roll goes for a mere $2.50, which means I’m shunning my previous favorite, Rahu, which has now crossed the $4 threshold for a roll. At the Sushi Bar, cucumber rolls are just $1.50. Nigiri pieces range in price from $2.00 to $4 for two pieces–and they’ve got 36 types! Some of their selections are ridiculous, such as the tomato with basil on sushi rice wrapped in cucumber–it’s the Vietnamese-Japanese sushi bar equivalent to bruschetta, I suppose. They’ve also got a wide range of “creative” rolls, from the traditional rainbow roll to some that I hesitate to try that are filled with yams and cucumbers.

But don’t be fooled, the Sushi Bar offers more than sushi. They’ve got lots of donburis, or rice bowls, bento boxes, tempura and katsu-type stuff. I haven’t tried much of this, but I’ve heard it’s not as good as the sushi. Your mileage may vary.

The restaurant itself offers “high class” chain-style ambiance and is practically upscale by Phnom Penh standards. They’ve got seating at the sushi bar, downstairs and upstairs. I prefer the upstairs seating where they’ve got booths and it’s slightly more private than the open seating on the ground floor.

The best part about the Sushi Bar? They deliver. And have online ordering. Seriously. From 10:00 to 22:00 they deliver anywhere in Phnom Penh. It’s free if you’re within 3km, $2 for 3km to 6km $3 for 6km to 10km. They’re even willing to negotiate for further than that.

The Sushi Bar
20 Street 302, Phnom Penh
T: 023 726 438; 023 726 439
sushibar-kh.com

Expat Q&A: Friends (and wine) from around the world

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Lina Goldberg

In this series we talk to Cambodia expats about what they wish they had known when they were first moving to Cambodia that they know now.

This week we talked to Hilary Ford, who moved to Cambodia 9 months ago. Originally from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Hilary worked for a child rights NGO in Chiang, Mai, Thailand, before coming to Cambodia. Currently she’s working for an international organization that focuses on democracy and governance.

Hilary and friends at the Bungalows near Phnom Penh

Hilary relaxing with a hard-earned drink at the Bungalows.

MTC: Hilary, what do you know now that you wish you had known when you first moved to Cambodia?

HF: “I wish I would have known just how much I would enjoy living here. Having prior lived in Thailand and visited a few times, I fooled myself into thinking I knew what to expect. Yet Cambodia, and Phnom Penh specifically, has surprised me on many different levels. To begin with, I wasn’t expecting Phnom Penh to be quite as cosmopolitan as it is. There are quality restaurants of all varieties, beautiful boutiques, a growing contemporary art scene and much of the nightlife is unexpectedly sophisticated. Although a lot of this comes from the international community, Cambodians have been capitalizing on Phnom Penh’s multiculturalism as well and I like that there remains a Khmer twist to most things.

On the other hand, I wish I had known how established the expat bubble is here and how difficult it can be to be to integrate into the local culture (though not assimilate, key difference). Phnom Penh has a massive expat population and sometimes it can feel like it exists almost completely independent of the local community. Moreover, there are significant socio-cultural differences between Cambodian and Western lifestyles that tend to fortify this divide. For one, while most young expats here are focused on their careers, traveling the world and not being tied to major commitments, most of our Cambodian counterparts of the same age are getting married, having children and saving for their first homes. Even if they aren’t quite at this point, they usually still live at home and have a great deal more familial obligations than we do, especially Cambodian women (even professionals).

This isn’t a bad thing at all, just a reality you have to accept here. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to live your life sequestered away from Cambodian culture and it is possible to make Khmer friends, just on different terms. I’ve learned to compensate by getting to know my awesome Khmer colleagues at work, my landlord’s family who are lovely, and my always welcoming neighbors. That said, it’s important to get to at least a basic level of Khmer conversation and it does really help not living in expat/tourist-centric BKK1 or Riverside. Living in a more local neighborhood just gives you more opportunities to reach out, but ultimately it is on you to make the effort regardless of where you are.

My first experience living abroad was as a high school exchange student for a year in rural northeastern Thailand which was sort of immersion to the extreme. Because of this, adjusting to the expat lifestyle over the past few years has been a tad jarring to say the least. All that said, I’ve truly grown to value the benefits of living in a place with a large international community. I appreciate the fact that I can talk to my family more than once every month or so because I have access to Skype-able internet. I appreciate the fact that I have access to things like deodorant that won’t bleach my armpits, tampons, good coffee and chocolate (god bless whoever decided to import Reese’s), that there are lovely cafes to hang out in and that there’s no imperative to eat rice or noodles for every single meal. And anyone who knows me will know that I am ecstatic to have access to affordable and reasonably decent wine.

Moreover, I appreciate that I am apart of this interesting community and I feel really fortunate to have met some genuinely amazing people here (both foreign and Khmer). Yes there are a fair number of jaded “really should have gone home a few years ago” types and some people with bad cases of white savior complex, but for the most part the expats here are a diverse, intelligent, cultured, and critically engaged bunch. I also absolutely love how international it is here and that by moving to Cambodia I’ve acquired friends from around the world.

One of the things I love the most about Phnom Penh however, is that even though it is very comforting and welcoming for foreigners, it rarely lets you forget that you’re in Cambodia. I just returned from my first real trip out of the country since moving here and there was something about being back riding sidesaddle on my neighbor motodop’s bike, weaving in and out of the insane traffic and then getting a giant whiff of the “shit creek” stench in BKK2 that just made me feel at home. Oddly, this is what makes Phnom Penh charming for me.”

Move to Cambodia