THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH
THURSDAY 1st MORNING SKY: In the bright light of the tropics it appears much later than it really is but the fisher people are still untangling their nets and the boats haven’t set off yet. We caught this couple preparing their boat with a pale morning sky in the background, on our way to the little monks this morning. Now that they have been given the opportunity to attend Khmer School in the afternoons we will see a lot more morning skies over the fishing villages on route to their classes
FRIDAY 2nd I WANT: The difficulty I have had with this prompt has made me realise how blessed I am. So I want to always be grateful for all I have..... Having said that we arrived in Phnom Penh this morning and our vegetarian food options expanded considerably. I always want to eat cheap, fresh, healthy and delicious vegetarian food and a that’s exactly what we did today ..... our $8 lunch
SATURDAY 3rd I HAVE: a mission to end the use of plastic straws. I also have great friends, who carried these stainless-steel straws to me from Australia and donated them. So now that we are in Phnom Penh I have a gift of locally made bamboo straws and stainless-steel straws for a former refugee and Manus Island survivor, who established his own restaurant, called Mideast Feast, here in the capital
SUNDAY 4th I NEED: As an expat I need a cultural connection to the community, in which I live. This weekend in Phnom Penh has been all about seeing more and understanding more about Cambodia. We have attended a photo exhibition about rural life in the 1960’s before the turmoil, watched films about the Pol Pot era and sought tranquillity and contentment in Wat Phnom
MONDAY 5th FAVE FRUIT: is definitely mango but pineapples and strawberries run a very close second. The local trees are now beginning to bear fruit and even those in our yard have the small green beginnings. I had to quickly purchase these small local ones in Kampot after a bus run from Phnom Penh and another hospital visit. Looks like smoothies tomorrow
TUESDAY 6th STRONG: black coffee, the early morning start me up and the late afternoon pick me up in this house
WEDNESDAY 7th IN MY KITCHEN: Right now, the delicious smell of chocolate brownies is mingling with the exotic tang of this Lotus Root Salad. My all-time favourite cold Chinese dish, which I learnt to make from students 30 years ago when we lived in Taiyuan in China. When I need to escape I bake and cook - tragedy struck today
THURSDAY 8th THIS RULES: We have now spent a year with these little monks and they can focus and apply themselves to tasks and some like Nit can work independently
FRIDAY 9th PALE: Natural and handcrafted soap by Sui for Aiyana. It is created in Kep using pure organic essential oils and in exquisite pale natural colours and available at the Nine Market today and every ninth of the month
SATURDAY 10th BIG: After thinking about it all day, I went with the first idea I had- Kep’s iconic big crab. We had to take a late afternoon spin on the bikes to capture it
SUNDAY 11th SMALL: The new Buddha we bought at Wat Phnom last Sunday, is now set up in the living room. I made the backboard earlier in the week and hung the small Bhutanese Prayer flags this morning after returning from a huge gathering for a religious festival with our little monks. We now have a slice of Bhutan in Cambodia
MONDAY 12th IMPERFECT PIC: Yesterday’s feast at the pagoda with none of the little monks clearly visible, a pole on the corner too little light and too much food
TUESDAY 13th VIEW FOR THE DAY: At Fishing House Kep for sundowners for no reason at all but the view inspires
WEDNESDAY 14th GORGEOUS: water lily blooming in a gigantic ceramic pot in an over run garden
THURSDAY 15th WALK: At the end of our class today our bikes were nowhere in sight but there were a few giggles coming from behind the Buddha at the entrance steps. Two cheeky little monks had hidden our bikes but quickly gave themselves away and tried to walk them back to their original parking spot. The bike is so much bigger than Duan that when he walked it back it nearly took off with him but that didn’t stop him from having a quick scoot around before finally relinquishing it
FRIDAY 16th CLOUDS: After a cloudless hazy day in late afternoon the thunder starts and the dark storm clouds roll in
SATURDAY 17th SOMEONE YOU LOVE: Only one possible choice love of my life - Ian forever and ever
SUNDAY 18th ACTION SHOT: A sleepy Sunday with everyone lazing on the beach today in Kep. So, this is an archive shot of the play time after class with our little monks who were so amazed at the new Phlat balls which were donated by an Aussie mate
Better action shot. Unfortunately, it happened a few days late. Go Duan - acrobatic, mischievous bike thief
MONDAY 19th BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE: I’m constantly torn between the mountains and the beach and Kep has both but I think this serene beach scene wins. It was taken recently but not today. We have had unseasonably cool, wet weather and grey skies all day today not that I’m complaining
TUESDAY 20th LIMITED EDITION: This footstool or ottoman was made from recycled plastic bags and stuffed with them by the talented team at IWA Kep. They create a range of amazing products from trash collected locally and are a shining example of an NGO, which empowers local women and enables them to provide for their families. Each piece is unique and therefore a limited edition
WEDNESDAY 21st EAT: We spotted our little monks on their alms walk, at the beach this morning. I can’t imagine what it must be like to only be able to eat what others donate. They wouldn’t take money from us so we were thrilled to see them again at the market. Having asked what they wanted we knew to buy them watermelon and pineapples and more to take up to them tomorrow for after class. Gam is clutching his alms bowl in the Tuk Tuk, so I hope it contains something delicious. We received two prayer blessings today for our donations
THURSDAY 22nd SLEEP: Sometimes you just have to set up the hammock behind the Buddha statue and sleep the afternoon away! Our monks seem to be featuring heavily in this month’s prompts and Gam in particular. He was totally out to it and it took some effort to get him to open those eyes and join us for the class- too cute
*Belated update: Happy to say that this shot was selected for the Fab Four on Instagram after this blog post went up! Yay! Yay! The first time for me!
FRIDAY 23rd CREATE: All set to start this year’s batches of traditional Xmas Cakes. We have adapted the Guinness Cake recipe we always use to include as many local ingredients as possible. So, we are about to create Xmas Cakes with a tropical twist and since the local brewery makes ABC stout, we’ll call them ABC Cakes - appropriately renamed to suit a couple of volunteer teachers, who intend to gift most of them to friends in the local community. The house smells totally delicious right now
SATURDAY 24th AN EMPTY ROAD: lined with mangroves and leading to the fishermen’s village
SUNDAY 25th GOLDEN HOUR: Facing the mountains with the warm glow of the setting sun amid the storm clouds forming a dark silhouette of the landscape
MONDAY 26th BUILDING: An abandoned mansion on the main road in Kep. The grounds are always beautifully maintained but squatters reside within. I often admire it and wonder what stories this building would tell if the walls could speak
TUESDAY 27th FAVE VEGETABLE: I love mushrooms! No oyster mushrooms left by the time we got to the market this morning but I reconstituted some dried shitake and bought fresh enoki to have with couscous with roasted veggies for dinner
WEDNESDAY 28th I LOVE THIS ABOUT ME: Even almost two years after retiring I still love to teach! Once a teacher always a teacher.... photo credit to Ian - taken earlier this year when the rain flooded our outdoor teaching space but we just relocated to cover inside and continued
THURSDAY 29th A DRINK: My tipple of choice - vodka lime and soda
FRIDAY 30th VANILLA: Sometimes as an expat one single word of English is enough to reassure you. I’ve bought mothballs thinking they were mints in China and made plenty of other wrong assumptions but this Thai vanilla essence bought in Cambodia is what it says it is
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