Before leaving with Cina and Vuth for Phnom Penh I did my walking exercise listening to the BBC. It was a fascinating talk about the invention of the instant noodle which took place in Japan in 1958. In the mind of the Japanese it was a more important addition to their society than the automobile industry, computers etc.
They were created by a business man who had failed at a number of things. After the Second World War the USA was providing Japan with a large amount of wheat flour which was something they didn't use in their diet. This reminded me of my time in Africa in the 80s when locals kept complaining that nations were sending useless aid; one item was powdered milk which was ridiculous as most Africans didn't drink milk.
Anyway, this man came up with the idea of the instant noodle. It must play a huge role in Japanese life as there are three museums dedicated to the simple noodle. The BBC went to one museum and it was packed with noisy children having a great time. The man also invented "Cup noodles" when he was 95. Apparently, noodles weren't selling well in the USA but one day, on a plane, he was given a small cup container, complete with sealed lid, filled with nuts. He had a light bulb moment and decided this would be a great idea for his instant noodles. Nowadays, they are the most important currency in US prisons where they are traded for everything. One motto he had was, "In life there's no such thing as too late." I like that. He even invented noodles to be eaten in space by astronauts.
The Cambodian family I travel with are a perfect example of the importance of noodles - they never travel anywhere without filling their suitcases with cup noodles. In China they produce around fifty billion packets of the things and one factory churns out five hundred packets a minute. They are purchased by travellers who have long journeys ahead of them on Chinese trains. Nowadays, sales are dropping because fast trains have shortened the time taken to travel so people don't see the need for noodles. It'll be a while before that happens here in Cambodia. There is now a rebuilt railway line but I haven't seen a train on it yet.
I was looking forward to some peace and quiet at home in Phnom Penh. It had been quite noisy in Battambang what with the customers in the restaurant and the ceremonies going on that involved the Buddhist faith. This morning I was woken up before 5am with the tinkling of traditional music from a pagoda. It continued until around 7.45am. Then someone started to speak and he was still speaking when we left over 1 1/2 hours later.
My quiet time at home was broken when Ponleu (9) asked if he could come over to sleep. When he arrived, he had brought Oudom (12) with him - not the perfect combination for a quiet evening. Oudom told me that he'd been hacking video games while I was away. He'd hacked one game so that he knew where the enemy was hidden; his gun even fired automatically. I told him the government would be after him if they found out what he was doing. I don't think it bothered him.
