MARCH 1st LOOK UP: Over drinks at the Crab Market last night we were all completely awed by the view and had to look up time and time again to observe the ever-changing palette displayed in the sky
MARCH 2nd ROUND: Today we dropped by a friend’s recently sold home and I noticed this cool round architectural feature in the bungalow. It's an open breeze space between indoor and outdoor spaces
MARCH 3rd SOMETHING GREEN: Gorgeous green garden setting in the courtyard restaurant we discovered yesterday and the green, traditional shutters are a nice touch too
MARCH 4th A BUNCH OF SOMETHING: This is an ever-evolving display on the coffee table in the living room. It is a bunch of seed pods, and shells discovered on our wanderings in various places all over the Kingdom of Wonder. I have always loved pods, and nature’s creations and can’t resist having them in the house. This morning after returning from Kep with more I had to add some to a vase as well as the tray was getting too over crowded. The Aussie collection hasn’t even been assembled yet either. The simple things……
MARCH 5th RANDOM: We had the opportunity to stop by the pagoda and see the little monks of Kep not once but twice in this last week and we haven’t been there for two months so they were joyous occasions. No matter what random time it is when we turn up the boys are always happy to see us and we love the connection. One of these two is Gam, who is the only remaining monk who has been with the project from its inception. We love them all dearly and look forward to every random visit
MARCH 6th SOMETHING I DREAD: As much as I love this apartment, since Ian’s accident last year, I dread the possibility of another accident on these stairs or the day coming when we can no longer manage them. With the assistance of two foreign neighbours we are trying our best to get all four flights repaired, but the wheels of bureaucracy move slowly here even when the benefit to the whole community is necessary and obvious. Patience is key
MARCH 7th IN THE DARK: Despite the plethora of comments on yesterday’s post I’m going with another shot of the entrance to our apartment. This alleyway leads to the street from several of the buildings in our community. It has always worried me that pedestrians some of whom are toddlers, vendors, cyclists and motor scooters come barrelling up and down and it is almost always in the dark except at night. Oh, the irony. Today is a red-letter day as the motion lights we have paid for will be installed at heights that ensure even the children activate them during the day. Please don’t worry we love living in this caring and kind community and contributing even a little to the comfort and safety of all brings us great joy. It’s going to be in the light from this morning on. Photo taken before 9am BTW
MARCH 8th SUPPLIES: Given that the temperature is now consistently in the mid-thirties and that the past several days have been alcohol free, we got in chilled supplies to celebrate International Women’s Day, this afternoon
MARCH 9th SOMETHING THAT SMELLS WONDERFUL: these gorgeous Oriental Lilies are certainly something that smells wonderful. Not only that, the fans which are almost always on, spread their heavenly scent throughout the living room. When I bought them a few days ago they were all tightly closed but now they are blooming into perfection
MARCH 10th A CAFE: A back alley cafe just like thousands of others all over Phnom Penh, serving up simple noodle or rice dishes and soup. They are almost never empty
MARCH 11th CONTENTS OF YOUR JUNK DRAWER: Well this is as close as it gets for me. It’s not really junk since in there I have my sewing kit, jewellery, spare glasses, perfume etc but I don’t actually have a junk drawer. In fact, in this apartment we have more drawers than any other kind of storage and at least half of them are empty! Trying to live a minimalist existence
MARCH 12th REPEAT: Not only does the making of these hybrid American-Aussie, granola- muesli, cookies-biscuits require a repeat process but they are on repeat as a major part of the breakfast menu in our place. Today’s vegan version has mashed banana instead of eggs and no chocolate chips but cranberries, dates, raisins, dried pineapple, dried mango, toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, peanuts and palm sugar. How can the laneway kids not think they are sweet enough? Refined sugar overload is the norm for them I guess
MARCH 13th YOUR FAVOURITE MUG: This is it! The quintessential Cambodian pagoda scene on my favourite mug is what initially attracted me and the coffee stains it now wears are testament to its daily use. I never drink from any other mug when I am home. Although there are many stunning designs in this range, and we have a few of them this is the one for me. Cambodia to a tee
MARCH 14th SOMETHING YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND: I first saw this in Thailand and it’s a regular feature of fresh markets here in Cambodia too. I don’t understand why other cultures don’t do it and eliminate the need to buy excessive quantities of fresh ingredients when only a small amount is required. It’s a small bundle of basic ingredients for a single meal. This one contained two spring onions, two chillies, two sticks of lemongrass, two stems of Thai basil, two garlic chives and two pieces of knife blade coriander all for the princely sum of 25 cents. It’s the perfect combination of flavours for many traditional Khmer dishes and it’s the only one I have ever bought
MARCH 15th A FLEETING MOMENT: This little one is bright as a button and always very excited to see us. Today he was wandering in the lane with a cardboard box over his head as you do when you are just four years old. Then just as we were about to start climbing the stairs he recognized my feet and whipped the box off, hugged my legs and told me he loves me. I managed to capture that fleeting moment just as he waved goodbye and the box went back on and imaginative play recommenced
MARCH 16th A TREASURE YOU FOUND: When we were home in Adelaide I had a list of all the treasures we had bought and been gifted over the years. I wanted to find them in our storage and bring them back to Cambodia to hang in our apartment but I had completely forgotten this and was delighted when I found it. This beautiful scroll was written by an elderly Japanese woman who we had both taught and she gifted it to us, when we left Japan. It even has our names and the date 1995 on it!
*this pic was selected for the fab four on Instagram
MATCH 17th A COUNTRY ROAD OR CITY STREET: Not just any city street but the actual street where we live: Street 118 Phnom Penh and that’s our little slice of the action in the middle on the top floor with tiny green flashes of the terrace garden visible; hence our name for it - the Aerie
MARCH 18th YOUR MOST COMFORTABLE SHOES: Being a bit pedantic I cannot include boots, sandals or flip flops so that leaves me with just three choices and these win hands down. They are very old and that may well be exactly what makes them so very comfortable. I’m extremely grateful to have them back on the play list - another rescue from the storage unit in Adelaide
MARCH 19th A SLICE OF _ _ _ _ _: organic brown rice cake. It’s not really cake so much as a cracker to me, but I do love them and that was even our dinner last night after returning from the epic day trip to Kampot
MARCH 20th A USEFUL OBJECT: In our household I’d say possibly the most useful object is the humble “bangchu”. A pair of Bhutanese handwoven baskets, which come in various sizes and lock together. They are traditionally used to carry a hot lunch without spillage. However, we use them to cover dishes once they are prepared, to serve bread, and snacks and store fruit, vegetables, and a variety of other things, even jewellery in the case of the tiny one pictured. As you can see some of ours are very old and faded but still working perfectly. I’m hoping this might be the year we can acquire a few replacements too
MARCH 21st THINGS YOU COLLECT: This is the little collection of treasures from nature that I picked up in various locations across South Australia when we were home. I still haven’t found a permanent home for them but I’m working on it. I already posted the Cambodian collection earlier this month, so I was searching for something else but finally decided to go with this one as it actually proves I really do collect these things
*This one was chosen in the Instagram Fab Four much to my delight
MARCH 22nd A LUCKY OBJECT: Ladybugs are lucky in many cultures and this little Italian one was a gift from a friend and has been the guardian of my keys for almost a decade
MARCH 23rd YOUR DESK FROM ABOVE: Like almost everything that’s built-in in this apartment the desk is concrete and more of a nook in the bedroom but it is the desk we have and it is occasionally used for more than just dumping things that I need to get back to on it or don’t know where else to put. The typical array of urgent, important and necessary are visible in this photo and I am ashamed to say I made no attempt to make it look anything other than what it really is
MARCH 25th A MOTEL SIGN: Well there might be one amongst all those neons somewhere in Phnom Penh but I've never seen one and google maps couldn’t show me a single motel so that’s all I've got
MARCH 26th SOMETHING TIMELESS: In the sense that it is something never affected by the passage of time or fashion, I’ve gone with this handheld prayer wheel. It is another of the little treasures that I removed from storage to bring back to PP. I love that so many people who see it feel instantly attracted to it and pick it up and try to spin it
MARCH 27th AN OLD HOME: I discovered this on our morning walk today. When so many of these gorgeous old colonial places are being allowed to fall into ruin or being knocked down I was delighted to see how an old home like this has been lovingly restored and renovated and is now available for rent
MARCH 28th A MODERN BUILDING: This is probably the most recognisable, landmark, modern building in Phnom Penh. For obvious reasons it is locally known as ‘the penguin’ and that’s the monthly selfie, albeit a sweaty one, taken at 8:30am when it was already 32°
MARCH 29th TWO FLAVOURS YOU ENJOY: Mango and passion fruit for me, especially blended together and turned into a yoghurt smoothie or even better and just a little decadent, a topping a double baked cheesecake like I still have leftovers of in the fridge
The cheesecake in question
MARCH 30th A SOUVENIR: We spent a good hour this morning searching for a Buddha with this exact mudra and just when I thought I had exhausted all the possibilities of finding the right size and correct hand position, I remembered a new souvenir shop we saw for the first time last Sunday. Voila the perfect serene faced Buddha and the final touch to our new spirit house
*this pic was selected for the fab four on Facebook
MARCH 31st YOUR BEST FRIEND: my partner in crime, my inspiration, the love of my life, my life-long travel companion, my shoulder to cry on, the person who most often makes me laugh, my confidante, my biggest fan and my best friend forever
THE PROMPTS
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