AUGUST 1st REFLECTIONS IN A MIRROR / PUDDLE: The reflection of an old colonial building in the mirror finish of one of the most striking new constructions in Phnom Penh. The juxtaposition of architecture. For the first time ever I forgot to post this on the day after having taken it
AUGUST 2nd SOMETHING I SAW: Yesterday we saw “Barbie” and we were the only two in the entire cinema for the mid-afternoon session we chose. That was definitely a first too
AUGUST 3rd WORK IN PROGRESS: Very early this morning when I couldn’t sleep I read an article that inspired this work in progress. We have tried so many things to remove the stains on the very old tiles in our apartment but this baking soda hack really works. If anyone had told me I would be scrubbing the kitchen floor with a toothbrush today I wouldn’t have believed it but that’s what I did for a couple of hours anyway.
The before and after shots
AUGUST 4th HANDS HOLDING A CUP: My favourite coffee cup with my preferred brew for breakfast on the terrace - the usual routine in our household
AUGUST 5th OFF CENTRE: I strolled by this Chinese style temple and ventured in to take a closer look. I immediately noticed that one of the pair of circular relief designs was off centre in the entrance wall and given the usual symmetry of this style of architecture I had to snap a shot
AUGUST 6th AN EDGE: In fact, the edge of our terrace where we often stand peering into the street below observing the local hood. On this sleepy Sunday afternoon, it’s pretty quiet out there
AUGUST 7th FLOWERS IN BLOOM: The Cuban Ginger flowering on our terrace. After a year in this location it has adapted and started producing masses of flowers which have the most beautiful fragrance
AUGUST 8th EMPTY: I always feel sad when I see these buildings with the upper four floors empty and the restaurants at ground level half empty too. It indicates that it will not be long before the whole building is demolished and given that it is in fact the same era as the one in which we live, I know it doesn’t actually take much to restore and refurbish it so that it not only survives but the character of the precinct is maintained and the local communities remain vibrant
AUGUST 9th FOUR THINGS: The four Asian dishes I cooked for dinner tonight
AUGUST 10th ON THE INSIDE: That’s the only place you can get this perspective of the iconic art deco dome of the Central Market here in Phnom Penh
AUGUST 11th CLOSE UP OF TEXTURE: Our early morning trip to the market today revealed honeycomb laden with fresh honey. It doesn’t get fresher than that
*this one was chosen for the fab five on Facebook much to my surprise
AUGUST 12th A BOWL FULL: Eurasian Confusion dinner. “Bon Appétit!” Dinner doesn’t often look like this …… Thank you Cambodia for the rice noodles and fresh veggies, Vietnam for the inspiration and herbs, China for the five-spice tofu and Japan for the dashi, miso and konbu! Of course, there is just a little bit of me too
AUGUST 13th A WALK IN THE PARK: This prompt inspired us to pack up a picnic brunch and not only take a walk in the park but to have a picnic too. There is a real scarcity of green spaces here and lack of benches and shade too so this medium strip was about as park like as we could find. We finally ended up picnicking in the grounds of Wat Phnom, which is so much shadier and a bigger, greener space too
AUGUST 14th HEART-SHAPED: There is a heart-shaped hole in my life where friends, family members and places I once frequented live: the memories and photographs help
AUGUST 15th MAKES ME LAUGH: Given our reliance on digital information of all kinds in this day and age, I’m thoroughly amused by the fact that the two apps in my phone which measure the distance I walk have this level of discrepancy! Who knows what the truth really is; somewhere between the two I guess. Never once have they recorded the same distance and the difference isn’t even consistent. That was at 10am and it’s now saying over 7 kilometres on the app with the lower score but I know now, for sure, that’s just a “ballpark figure”
AUGUST 16th I DID THIS TODAY: It’s been a pretty domestic kind of day here with washing, terrace gardening, marketing, cooking and cleaning but we did stop by our favourite dry goods stall in the market for flour and this lovely vendor taught us how to say flour in Khmer and we taught her how to say it in English. It’s the little things ….
AUGUST 17th GOLDEN HOUR LANDSCAPE: Today is grey and as the monsoon is once again bringing afternoon storms, I am going with the most spectacular golden hour shot I have ever taken from our terrace. Just a week ago this view presented itself and extended right across the sky.
The view looking in the opposite direction taken just seconds later is pretty impressive too
AUGUST 18th ON THE GROUND: I spotted this while strolling through the local market today. Luckily, we have a local repairman in the house today so he could tell me what it is-pork tendons and of course they need to dry out in the sun
AUGUST 19th A BELONGING: My orange, hand woven basket was one of the first made in Cambodia items I bought myself when we arrived here six years ago. Currently it’s doing service as the swimming essentials receptacle and that’s my happy place in the background. It’s movement meditation, wellbeing and fitness all in one so I dub it “swimming for sanity”
AUGUST 20th A HIDDEN GEM: This temple concealed from sight by the high-rise towers and cramped inner city laneway residences is impossible to spot street-side but emerges as a hidden gem from the sky bar we were at last night
AUGUST 21st MUSICAL: This old dented brass bell from Bhutan and one from China and another from Cambodia are tied to the locked security door as a front door bell. Unfortunately, we rarely get to hear them ring as we have to collect guests at ground level and escort them up the maze of decrepit stairs or they would probably never find our apartment. I do occasionally ring them just for fun. Despite not being the slightest bit musical I have a lot of bells and delight in hearing them tinkle
AUGUST 22nd A BICYCLE: set up as a snack shop and waiting patiently for customers late this afternoon
AUGUST 23rd THE COLOUR GREEN: is exactly what locals buy pandan leaves for. They colour sweets and snacks in this vibrant green colour and are readily available in markets all over this part of Asia. I guess the flavour does also play a part
AUGUST 24th A THROWBACK: to 1997 when we were living in Dali, Yunnan Province China. The highlight of many a month was the trip to the local market in Shaping, where anything from a live pig, a set of second-hand dentures, a tie-dyed tablecloth or an antique marble table was for sale. A photo of a photo from that era
AUGUST 25th ON THE SHELF: This morning’s excursion involved coffees at a new to us cafe but we managed to resist the sweet treats on the shelf having just consumed brunch
AUGUST 26th CLOUD PATTERNS: Moody monsoon skies; this morning’s view of the cloud patterns over breakfast from our terrace
AUGUST 27th A COFFEE SHOP SCENE: I have long admired the exterior of this place and we finally ventured in for coffee. The interior did not disappoint but I have to say it lost points big time with me for serving customers inside with iced drinks in plastic cups!! I think that makes it a one off for us
AUGUST 28th FRESH: fruit from the local market. Baby pineapples are just the best and presented for immediate eating too. What’s not to love with the whole haul costing less than $4?
AUGUST 29th A MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE: This was always going to be an archive shot considering where we currently live. In 2014 this was our daily view, standing at the front door of our rammed earth apartment on the second floor in Samtengang, Bhutan. This Himalayan mountain view was breathtaking in every season
*unexpectedly this one was chosen for the fab four on Facebook and the best nine on Instagram
AUGUST 30th A BEFORE/AFTER: I just loved the architectural features of our apartment on first sight. The various styles of breather bricks in particular are really appealing. However, after living here for over a year the amount of light, which floods the interior from the stairwell was an issue so we recently made this small adaptation so we still enjoy the visual from inside but now at night, we have less light with the added benefit of less noise too
AUGUST 31st THIS SEASON: is the monsoon. The heaviest rains we have experienced here in Phnom Penh have been in the late afternoon during this past week. When we are indoors, I’m always happy to observe the wind, rain, thunder and lightning and we are getting better at perceiving an imminent downpour these days and scurrying home to avoid getting soaked
THE PROMPTS
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