Time is going by; just two more sleeps and then I return to Phnom Penh. I had a lazy morning, relaxing, reading and writing. I'm one of those who can't stand a full inbox on my computer so I'm happy to report I'm down to just three emails and two of them I put there myself.
Phuoc came so I jumped on his motorbike and off we went. Eating places are everywhere and he always picks simple homes that serve food. Today the place was run by elderly ladies who appeared to be sisters as they looked so alike. Phuoc pointed to a variety of items and they were all popped into a large bowl. He ordered noodles so a handful was put into a wire basket and dipped into a pan of hot broth for a few seconds. It was interesting fishing things out with my chopsticks; a quail egg, a crab ball, green onions, banana flower, stems of green vegetables. Asians are able to use chopsticks and a spoon at the same time but for the life of me I can't. I use the chopsticks for as long as I can and then I switch to the spoon. When I get fed up spooning I pick up the bowl and slurp. Nothing goes to waste.
I've noticed that ordinary people in this part of the world - Vietnam and Cambodia (and I'm sure it's the same in other parts) - have only spoons and forks; there's not a knife in sight. They have kitchen knives for cutting but no knives to put on the table. Yesterday we had breakfast at home and I had to spread jam and other things on my toast - it had to be done with the back of a spoon.
Ngan picked me up at 3pm and off I went on her motorbike. She wanted to take me somewhere special and she asked what I did yesterday. When I told her she said, "That's where I wanted to take you!" I told her it was fine by me to repeat the process so off we went. She hadn't a clue how to get there so I became her tour guide, telling her where to ride. For part of the way we rode down quiet, narrow streets but then we suddenly join a major highway with thousands of motorbikes; it's quite an experience. The parking areas, inside buildings are an amazing sight as they are a sea of motorbikes and not a car in sight - "sea" may be a mild word - it should really be "ocean". There are tens of thousands of bikes parked on all levels and it amazes me how anyone remembers where their bike is.
We had a job finding parking as many of the roads were closed as it was an area where there are schools and the children were coming out to go home. Ngan and I went to a shopping mall and ordered a coffee. I never know the meaning of the words to describe the cups so everything is a surprise when it arrives. We were given a beeper which would go off when our order was ready. When I ordered my drink I was told that for around 75 cents I could have a piece of cake and so I chose tiramisu. We sat and nattered for an hour or so, catching up with her news and her new Croatian boyfriend. She phoned various places to see if there was a show on but things seem to happening only at the weekend. We were going to go one evening to a wine bar (called whiskey bar here) but the owner, who is a friend, wouldn't be there.
I gave Ngan a guided tour of the park and then we climbed one of the towers to get a view of the area. Below, in the park, about two dozen people were flying enormous kites; I was amazed that nobody got their strings crossed. I don't know if she was a teacher or a mother but a lady was teaching tiny tots how to rollerblade. They were positively minute so they can't have been any more than four years old. She set up obstacle courses and it was fun watching them trying to control their legs and often falling; she didn't bother picking any of them up. It's not on the main Mekong River but it's a major tributary and so there are boats plying up and down all the time; it was fascinating just standing there watching the world go by.
Poor Ngan couldn't find her pass to get her bike back from the parking area. I waited outside and managed to get my 10,000 steps pacing up and down. Eventually, she came out and said that she was lucky that the entrance has cameras where you pay and so there was a record of her going in; she had to pay a penalty though.
We set off for the roast duck place but found out that they'd sold everything and so they'd closed. It was in someone's home so quite a small place but famous for their duck dish. Phuoc and Tuan Anh joined us so we followed them and eventually turned off onto a dirt road which ended at a restaurant right on the bank of the river. We had an excellent meal starting with baby squid cooked in a fish sauce that were so juice, then came a beef dish with various vegetables, banana flower, sticky rice and a huge platter of grilled chicken that had been cooked with green chilli. I was a bit nervous about it but it wasn't too spicy. It was a nice way to end the day.
