DECEMBER 1st I LOVE THIS: Very few people who are not Aussies can even tolerate this but as an Aussie I can say I absolutely love it!
DECEMBER 2nd I BOUGHT THIS: My first piece of Cambodian art which is in fact a reproduction on canvas, was bought in Battambang a couple of weeks ago. It was a special experience buying from and chatting to the artist himself in his studio and I couldn’t resist taking a photo at the time. It was only later that I realized that the original is actually hanging on the wall behind Ian and Loeum Lorn. It is now framed and hanging in the living room and I love it. We are returning to Battambang next weekend so there will definitely be a return to the studio too
DECEMBER 3 STARTS WITH T: Train on the tracks
DECEMBER 4th I HELD THIS: bunch of beautiful flowers in my hand as I carefully climbed the four flights of stairs up to our apartment. Despite knowing how environmentally unfriendly cut flowers are, I sometimes can’t resist them and especially Oriental Lilies as the scent is so beautiful. They now have pride of place on the hall table and I can smell them even before I open the front door
DECEMBER 5th SOMETHING RED: Now that the monsoon season seems to be over, rambutans have suddenly appeared in the fruit carts in the streets. They are something red and something very delicious. Breakfast is looking even more delicious these days
DECEMBER 6th PEACE: A sign I spotted and edited. The message is clear
DECEMBER 7th TREE: This is my favourite green space in the city - the garden surrounding Wat Phnom. It’s only a five-minute walk from home and it was almost completely empty as we strolled by on our walk to the bakery this morning
DECEMBER 8th LOOKING UP: We are back to our regular walking along the riverside routine and the precinct is much more attractive and even more populated than ever after the ASEAN Summits. Twilight looking up at the palms
DECEMBER 9th SMALL: The small brass whistle attached to my new canvas handbag. I just started using it recently and this is a safety feature except I can hardly get a sound out of it so I’m going to have to practice so I will be able to if I’m ever in need
DECEMBER 10th OUT + ABOUT: After heading off at 5:45am and training it to Battambang I found this charming street art wandering out and about in the old section of town
DECEMBER 11th FREE CHOICE: Barry’s Battambang birthday cocktails at Miss Wong tonight
DECEMBER 12th LIGHTS: Tonight, we attended the incredible show “Never Give Up” by the Phare Circus in Battambang. This show chronicled the troupe’s survival through the pandemic. They are a part of the visual, fine and performing arts school, training young people with marketable, artistic talents and skills. It was the lights, the costumes and the theatricality, which enabled the performers to shine
DECEMBER 13th SOMETHING GREEN: The ripening rice crop near Battambang certainly fits that descriptor
DECEMBER 14th DECORATION: The birthday celebration we attended last night included this incredible platter, which I initially thought was a table decoration. It is in fact made up of mini serves of traditional Khmer desserts intricately shaped and patterned to represent flowers and the few we tasted were absolutely delicious. It looked like a mandala
DECEMBER 15th A STAR: This little star is woven from pandan leaves as are many of the packages for the beautiful products created by Senteur d’Angkor. Today while shopping for gifts to take home I spotted this little yellow star and added it to what I had chosen just for the prompt. Since Xmas is not really big in these parts, I believe it’s a charm for a purse, bag or phone not a decoration
DECEMBER 16th CANDY CANE: I have been trying to keep this month about Cambodia not Xmas since it’s not a big thing here, but there is not much wiggle room with candy cane. Here is my attempt at creating one from chocolate so I hope that counts. I know some little laneway kids who will be delighted to receive this on a platter with other candy, slices of cake and other treats on Xmas morning too, even if they have no idea why. Bah humbug
DECEMBER 17th A HAT: This ‘cyclo’ rider waiting for customers on the perimeter of the market this morning got a big kick out of me taking his photo. He rocks the best sunhat for his profession
DECEMBER 18th I MADE THIS!: Xmas dessert platter and all the baked treats on it. My first attempt to assemble and present one and I will do at least one more on the big day. I can hardly wait to give it away. The joy is in the giving
DECEMBER 19th JOY IS: delivering the Xmas treats to our former landlords via their twin grandchildren, who were so happy to get them, managed to say “We miss you,” in English and then seeing them eating the shortbread just five minutes later. When we first met them five years ago these girls were so shy that they ran away at the mere sight of us. That’s what community is all about
DECEMBER 20th BEGINS WITH S: Now that we are back in Kep selfie in the sun by the sea is the best option in my mind
DECEMBER 21st ON THE FLOOR: The deck of a boat qualifies as a floor to me, so this is how our day trip to Rabbit Island got underway this morning. Even when there are plenty of seats available they choose to sit cross legged on the floor
DECEMBER 22nd A GIFT: Being back in our old stomping ground and heading home to Oz for the first time in over four and a half years means we have purchased a local gift or two today but we don’t want to give the game away, so here is a sneak preview
DECEMBER 23rd A TRADITION: This week, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, we were able to revive the tradition of organising a day trip to Rabbit Island for the little monks of Kep. It is also a tradition to take a photograph of the whole group of monks and all those who attended on the day immediately before boarding the boats back. This is the shot I took of them with their new teacher before handing my phone over to the captain to get another with us two in it too. Making more monk memories
DECEMBER 24th SOMEONE I LOVE: is this gorgeous man looking as Xmasy as possible in the tropics. About to have cocktails as a start to the celebrations
DECEMBER 25th MY DAY: started with a three-kilometre walk to The Fox Tale to deliver shortbread and share a Mimosa with a new Aussie mate. We’re always pretty low key about Xmas except for the baking aspect. We progressed to delivering candy canes and Xmas cake and finally distributing local candy and cookies to the laneway and stairway kids where we live. It’s really all about giving
DECEMBER 26th THIS IS DELISH!: Our Xmas Brunch was Shakshuka and it most certainly was delish
DECEMBER 27th COLOURFUL: I’m much more into coordinated than colourful as my clothes, accessories and home decor will attest to. I have been completely focused on packing to travel and preparing our home for our five weeks of absence so this is it. I found the colourful Bhutanese keyring which has the keys to our Australian home on it, even though I seem to have lost the keys to our storage unit, and they are placed on one of the most colourful of the cushion covers I have recently bought here
DECEMBER 28th A BOOK: Not such a great photo but I took it yesterday when I finished reading it in digital format so I had a copy of the details, because I intend to buy a paperback version as a gift and now that I am in airport no man’s land I realise that today’s prompt is a book so that was very fortuitous. We are on our way home
DECEMBER 29th US: in Australia with Aussie mates who are hosting us. This was taken in a great backyard garden. We are home for the first time in so long and we are already loving it despite the almost complete lack of sleep in the last twenty four hours
DECEMBER 30th HOW I RELAX: Over bubby on the balcony with friends, who were the only witnesses at our marriage ceremony and all four of us have not been together in the same place at the same time for over 20 years
DECEMBER 31st BEST PART OF 2022: It’s a hard call but purchasing our apartment in Phnom Penh, moving in and beginning a new phase of our lives there would have to be the stand out, though coming back to Australia for the first time in over four and a half years is also pretty wonderful
THE PROMPTS
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