Friday, September 29, 2017

oNe PhOtO a DaY SePtEmBeR 2017


THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH


FRIDAY 1st SOMETHING PINK: My least favourite colour so I'm going with this iridescent pink dragon fruit as the only something pink in the vicinity. Does anyone know if or how you can tell the internal colour of a dragon fruit before you cut it open?? I love the wow factor of the pink ones even though the white ones taste exactly the same


SATURDAY 2nd BREAKFAST: often looks like this on Sunday but thanks to PAD our weekly "Full Monty" breakfast arrived on Saturday. Homemade and Fusion cuisine- poached duck eggs on toasted baguette spread with chilli jam, red capsicum humus and Vegemite and fresh tomatoes on the side. Breakfast ala Kep


SUNDAY 3rd I MADE THIS...... : fusion dish tonight for dinner. It's a cross between sweet potato rosti and an omelette: a new invention meal with a twist. Not glamorous but spicy and delicious


MONDAY 4th ON THE ROAD: We saw this on the road right in front of our house today. It's the second time we have seen this team and I'm sure they must pull the last remaining bullock cart on the road in Kep. Beautiful docile beasts evoking a bygone pace of life


TUESDAY 5th GRASS: Just yesterday the grass surrounding the Bamboo House was meticulously cut and the edges trimmed. Perhaps it was in response to the many snakes we have recently spotted here. It certainly looks very neat now and any remaining snakes will be easily spotted, so a win-win


WEDNESDAY 6th BALL: These delicious little falafel balls were my lunch at Café Espresso in Kampot today. After a few hours stomping from market to furniture store to supermarket and second hand stores they were an absolutely delicious and necessary treat


THURSDAY 7th SURPRISE: A collection of small, homemade gifts to surprise our lovely Cambodian friend Chantou on her birthday today


FRIDAY 8TH THAT’S FUNNY: There are 10 ducks that live on the property adjoining ours. We can often hear the clack of the ducks’ beaks as they catch insects in the rice paddies surrounding the house without actually being able to see them. If we imitate their quacking all their heads pop up just like this one, who happens to be a loner. I think that’s funny Quack! Quack! Quack!


SATURDAY 9th SWEET: Homemade, sweet, roasted, red capsicum humus prepared from scratch today. Yum


SUNDAY 10th LUNCH: About once a week lunch looks exactly like this.  Cambodia is blessed with excellent coffee and patisseries due to its French colonial past. Locally baked baguettes have become a staple in our diets


MONDAY 11th SOLO: One speaker, one amplifier, one rider and one deafening sound advertising who knows what. Riding solo through the town and villages this man seems to enjoy his job


TUESDAY 12th EMOTIONAL: This little cutie pie is the granddaughter of our neighbours. It is often difficult to guess her emotional state but she rarely cries, sometimes squeals and is usually very excited to see us and exercise her two-word English vocabulary- "hello goodbye"


WEDNESDAY 13th SCENIC: Our regular bike rides often take us past scenic seaside views like this. Thanks to this prompt we stopped to take a shot today when returning from Kep Gardens Association


THURSDAY 14th MESS: The mess that's left after the sugar cane juice has been extracted. At least it's organic. It's the polystyrene food containers littering the streets and coastline that really need addressing. But that mess was just too ugly to photograph


FRIDAY 15th SPOON: An Asian style spoon suitable for noodle and soup dishes. We always seem to need a couple of these whenever we set up house again in Asia and that exactly what we are doing today. The lease on our new house begins today and it's all go with furniture arrivals and cleaning


SATURDAY 16th PLAYING TOURIST: Kep is still quite new to us having lived here less than 3 months so we regularly take shots of this beautiful location in order to appreciate the blessing that being able to live here is. Although we still haven't done all the tourist things because we hope to do them with friends and family when they visit, and we have been too wound up sorting visas, houses, and volunteering options. Nonetheless never a week goes by without us playing tourist and being mistaken for tourists. Torrential monsoon rain here at the moment so this is a shot taken a few days ago returning from swimming and grabbed by the sea views


SUNDAY 17th MY ADDICTION: would have to be coffee. I do not function in the mornings until black coffee has been consumed. I'm thankful to the French colonialists who left a legacy of coffee in Asia and the new entrepreneurs, who continue the tradition with innovation and style. Rumble fish in Kampot, is in a class of its own when it comes to roasting, brewing and packaging and we always have a supply on hand


MONDAY 18TH OUTTAKE: Having already posted a duck photo this month, this is my choice. I knew this one was an outtake immediately as the bougainvillaea photo bombed my shot at the exact moment this quartet of ducks were looking right at me.  I love their quirky ways and observed them often until they mysteriously disappeared a few days ago …….. We fear they have been rotisseried now so they are quite definitely outtakes and possibly someone’s take out dinner! (not ours we are vegetarian)


TUESDAY 19th OUT OF FOCUS: The homemade fermented chillies Ian made are completely out of focus because of the salt in the brine and the ridges and condensation on the glass jar they are stored in. BTW they are also way too hot for me. I'll stick to his chilli jam thanks


WEDNESDAY 20th DINNER: Last night's dinner actually. One of my fusion favourites- cold noodles, steamed and raw veggies, Thai basil, fried tofu and omelette strips with spicy peanut sauce. Take a bowl select your combination drench in peanut sauce and eat. Repeat, repeat, repeat


THURSDAY 21st BETWEEN: the Bamboo House where we are currently living and the modern Bungalow we have rented for the next 12 months lies this modern take on a traditional Khmer style house that we would love to build a copy of for ourselves one day. Located between the mountains and the sea facing the paddies it has the best of both worlds. That's us living somewhere between reality and dreams......


FRIDAY 22nd CARE: There are a great number of things I care deeply about.  I try to reflect that caring in my lifestyle choices and am committed to sustaining a healthy balanced and active life which respects and protects the environment and offers hands on assistance to those in need. I sold my last car in 1989 and have walked and / or cycled daily as a commitment to the environment ever since. I eat locally produced vegetarian food for my own good health and that of the planet. I support local grassroots charities and causes whenever possible. I am dedicated to a philosophy of kindness, gratitude and compassion, which is why volunteer teaching has brought me so much happiness in the past and present. I try to show how much I care by how I live


SATURDAY 23rd RULE OF THIRDS: First twilight run to the beach from the new residence. Living in the new 'School House' begins now...


SUNDAY 24th EVERYDAY ADVENTURES: We have now relocated to what I have dubbed the School House due to its proximity to the largest high school in Kep. Our new house is at the end of this laneway and it's an everyday adventure to get in or out if the turkeys and geese are ranging. I am in constant fear of them biting my legs as we whizz past on our bikes. The male turkey running in the background is the real aggressor but this shot is severely cropped because I was too scared to get close on foot and with good reason because seconds after I snapped it from a distance the two geese stated chasing me


MONDAY 25th CLEAN: The living space of our new home was spotlessly clean when we moved in two days ago. I can't exactly say it still is but it's tidy and when we get a mop I will endeavour to keep these very unforgiving floors as clean as they are in this photo


TUESDAY 26th SHAPE: That unmistakable shape of a coconut palm silhouetted against the beach sky at sunset


WEDNESDAY 27th BUBBLES: left behind on the sand and rocks as the waves retreat and the sea foam clings to the shore at Kep Beach


THURSDAY 28th TRASH: One person's trash is another's treasure. Today's purchase from the Japanese second-hand shop in Kampot is my latest treasure


FRIDAY 29th DESSERT: Although I love to bake, we are not really dessert kind of people unless we hold dinner parties. However today’s prompt inspired me to buy a tub of ice cream- something I have not done in living memory!! ....So instead of our usual mango smoothies mid-afternoon, we had mangoes and ice cream with peanuts as a dessert tonight. (Forgot to add the passion fruit as I panicked with the rapid melting going on in this tropical monsoon weather)


SATURDAY 30th SELFIE: That’s me warts and all. No makeup, no pretences, no second agendas, just my eager beaver face and a touch too much sun...