Good morning Phnom Penh. Day two. Part one.
After spending yesterday lounging around all day on account of being sick, it was nice to wake up this morning feeling myself again and without any traces of a headache.
I will have to interrupt my own thoughts right now because my thoughts were interrupted by an explosively potent green hot pepper which I just ate without looking in my soup, mistaking it for a string bean. The sensation started with me making a face which probably looked like someone had just told me that Buddha is a fat furry house cat. That face would say 'huh?'. So that was the initial reaction. It was immediately followed by profuse sweating from my face and chest. And finally, saving the best for last; first my tongue, then my gums and finally the rest of my mouth and even my throat started feeling as if someone had just thrown some burning coal into my mouth. Since I've never actually experienced that first hand, I believe now I know what it would feel like. In an attempt to not completely lose my sense of taste or my taste buds I tried to eat pieces of pork that were in the soup, figuring that something solid might soften the reaction somehow, however, to my deep disappointment, I discovered that attempting to chew on that meat only made matters worse. While chewing the pork I felt like a million tiny needles were piercing my tongue and throat. Note to self for next time, although hopefully there is no next time, not a good idea! After wiping away the tears that were apparently streaming down my face, which I wasn't aware of since I was concerned with my mouth being on fire, I realized that the worst part has passed. As I slowly put myself back together, I looked around me and found that the whole room of locals eating their breakfast around me were intently watching to see what this crazy foreigner girl was going to do next. Was she having a seizure, a heart attack perhaps!? The concerned faces spelt it out very clearly. After explaining or rather showing everyone what had happened by using sign language and gesturing towards my soup, everyone resumed their morning but this time with small giggling whispers to each other and bright smiles on their faces. Glad I could be of service to the lovely people of Phnom Penh! :)
So this misadventure of mine was right after going to the Central Market to find a couple of things that I needed. After successfully finding everything, was when I ventured into the diner where I lost my taste buds. Later on I headed towards the river to find the Seeing Eyes blind masseuse place. I've only gotten one Thai massage since in Asia. Oh wait! How could I forget? I got one from Raquel which was absolutely fabulous, thank you very much! She took classes in Chiang Mai for proper Thai massage, and let me tell you, she must've paid a lot of attention in class because it was lovely.
When I finally located the place, I had to wake up the receptionist who seemed quite angry about that. The style that they specialized at this establishment was the Japanese Anma and Shiatsu massage technique whih adresses the hundreds of pressure points in the body in order to relax the body and to relieve any ailments. After I paid the seven dollars for an hour, I was led up two flights of stairs down a narrow corridor resembling an old stuffy USSR hospital. I could hear a lively tune coming from the distance but could not tell what language it was in. Otherwise, it was very quiet. We stopped at the end of a hallway and the receptionist nodded towards a big white door in front of me which read, 'Silence please. Beds 1 -9.' When I opened the door I discovered a room with pale blue walls, two windows covered by heavy beige curtains, and nine massage beds spread out throughout the room with three in each row. There was a changing in two corners of the room and lockers. The lighting was bright and fluorescent, almost angry and certainly not soothing. There was soft French music playing from the speakers on the left side of the room on the wall. But the most disturbing sight was three people, two women and a man, wearing light blue pants and shirts resembling hospital gowns, each sleeping on a bed. But when I walked in they all rose as one and turned their heads towards me. Their white empty eyes were gazing back at me accompanied by expressionless faces. At that moment I got the strangest feeling that they were staring right into my soul. And of course, in reality, they were all blind but I felt naked and exposed in their company. I can't really explain why I felt that way but I did. The receptionist exchanged a couple short phrases with the man whose slumber I disturbed. I was given a blue shir and pants to change into and was told that this man would be my masseuse today. The receptionist left and closed the door behind him. The room was completely silent but for the happy old French music playing. The air con was blasting full power so it was quite nice. However, I was getting chills because I felt like I was in an episode of Twight Zone. I just had this strange unsettling feeling and uneasiness. But I changed and went to sit down on one of the beds. I was watching the man prepare a table for me but then he slowly shuffled out of the room. I figured he was giving me time to change. So I sat there for a couple minutes but then decided to go and check where he was. I didn't know the proper procedure or the language so it was a bit strange. When I peeked out the door in my little blue outfit, I heard someone talking with hushed voices and I was stretching my body out the door without actually stepping outside of the room, like a cat scared of something, I saw the man come out of a room next to the one I was in. He was walking back towards this room and I got scared so I ran back inside and sat down on the very last bed on the left side of the room. When the masseuse came back, he said 'Hello' in English and then told me to lay down on my stomach on the bed which he had prepared before leaving the room. He was a petite man, with jet black hair which was greying a bit by the temples. He was probably about thirty five. His name was Lua. He asked me whether I had any problems and I answered with a 'No' because I didn't want him to focus on any part of my body but just do everything together. He started by walking a full 360 around the table while getting acquainted with where everything was on my body. Head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, back, spine, legs, feet. I was still spooked by the whole setting that I could not relax at all. As my head was down, looking through the little hole towards the floor, I kept my ears perked. The peppy French music kept on playing and I started thinking of scary movies that I have seen which had involved hospitals or people getting their organs removed. In those films, sometimes there will be a pleasant tune playing while some innitially harmless seeming character is peacefully killin someone. Of course I was trying to make those thoughts go away but I just could not. Plus, Lua kept stopping once in a while and everytime he did, I would lift my head to see what he was doing. One of the times I didn't look, it sounded like he had picked up some object which freaked me out so I looked right away, alarmed. It turned out to be a clock that says the time out loud when you press a button. Anout halfway through the session, I finally relaxed and surrendered to the moment. The massage wasn't as relaxing as I expected it. In fact, it was quite painful. With me closing my eyes shut very tightly and wrinkling my nose, with some occasional sounds of pain escaping my mouth. Though I was still a bit creeped out, I was mostly enjoying the moment. I was thinking that out of the seven dollars that I paid at the front desk, the masseuse probably gets a very small cut. So I decided to give him some money directly. I wasn't sure how he would react but when an hour has passed and I was about to leave after changing, I walked over to Lua to say thank you. Then I took his hand and put five dollars in it. And I tapped on all five of his fingers, one at a time, counting up to five out loud. When he realized how much I had given him, his face acquiered some light and his smile grew. He started thanking me in both English and Cambodian. He had tears in his eyes. That was enough of a reward for me and a solid confirmation that I had made the right decision.
I walked out of the massage house feeling like a freshly watered flower. Tall, bright and smiling.
I continued walking down the street along the river until I found a bench facing the river.
When I sat down, I decided to write a bit. Before I had a chance to finish my first sentence, a white older man sat down on a bench next to me and said hello. I answered with a simple hello and continued writing. He obviously wasn't going to stop at hello, I knew so I finished my sentence and didn't start a new one so it couldn't be interrupted.
The guy started to tell me about his life and how he has a kid here in Cambodia and is enjoying living in this primitive world. He also went to tell me that he had written a book called Flip Telepathy. He claims to have telepathic powers and teaches people how to tap into their own telepathic fields. He said that we can all do it, we just need to learn how to use those powers. And that's where he comes in. Thomas Colby. After our conversation, I went online checked out to see if he was lying but it all checked out. Same guy, same book. So Tom went on to tell me how he discovered that he had telepathic powers with a story about his truck driving days in Michigan. He pretty much realized that he could understand truck noises and other I inanimate objects. Not only hear them, but understand them as well. And of course, the whole time I was listening to the story I kept wondering whether he was telling the truth or just had a really colorful imagination. Who knows but it was definitely an interesting and very random part of my day.
After walking around all day, I took a motor bike back to the guesthouse. So you pretty much hop on the back of a motorcycle and wizz through town all for only fifty cents. Not bad...
I feel like I just walked into an alternate universe. There is a restaurant & bar that seems to be open 24/7. It's quite nice and ritzy so I never really thought about going there unless maybe with friends. But apparently on Sunday evening in Phnom Penh, trying to find an open shop is like trying to find a Polar bear in the Sahara desert. But like I said, the restaurant across the street is always open, this Sunday evening not being an exception. So since I was hungry and thirsty, I figured I'll walk over there and check it out. When I walked in, it was as if the music had just stopped and I was the cause for it, it might as well has been. It wouldn't be the first time.
So as I walked into this fancy establishment filled strictly with posh young locals, I knew this would be an interesting place. When I spotted a waitress and attempted to ask her whether they still served food or only drinks, she ran away giggling, leaving a trail of the commonly heard 'no engliiiish'. So I moved on to the next person who looked like they worked here and inquired the same thing. You can already what the reaction was. Same same and not different, at all. Finally, a nice local guy helped me out, who has been giggling with his group over my failed attempt at communication and putting an imaginary fork into my mouth as well as drinking an imaginary drink. He stood up and asked the waitress what i assumed was the same thing I was inquiring about. The waitress immediately directed me to a table. This place was a bit pricey so I figured since I'll be paying five dollars for a meal, I might as well pick something cool. So I went with fried then sautéed frog cooked in Cambodian spices and my latest addiction, a nice and cold Coke. When my frogs arrived, I was quite excited to try it and when I did, I was not disappointed. It was delicious. A couple minutes into my meal, I spotted two of my lovely roommates coming in with their friends who had just arrived. Becky and Mairi both go to Edinborough University in the UK and were great girls to share a room with. Both very funny and sweet. I hope to run into them again soon!
I will have to interrupt my own thoughts right now because my thoughts were interrupted by an explosively potent green hot pepper which I just ate without looking in my soup, mistaking it for a string bean. The sensation started with me making a face which probably looked like someone had just told me that Buddha is a fat furry house cat. That face would say 'huh?'. So that was the initial reaction. It was immediately followed by profuse sweating from my face and chest. And finally, saving the best for last; first my tongue, then my gums and finally the rest of my mouth and even my throat started feeling as if someone had just thrown some burning coal into my mouth. Since I've never actually experienced that first hand, I believe now I know what it would feel like. In an attempt to not completely lose my sense of taste or my taste buds I tried to eat pieces of pork that were in the soup, figuring that something solid might soften the reaction somehow, however, to my deep disappointment, I discovered that attempting to chew on that meat only made matters worse. While chewing the pork I felt like a million tiny needles were piercing my tongue and throat. Note to self for next time, although hopefully there is no next time, not a good idea! After wiping away the tears that were apparently streaming down my face, which I wasn't aware of since I was concerned with my mouth being on fire, I realized that the worst part has passed. As I slowly put myself back together, I looked around me and found that the whole room of locals eating their breakfast around me were intently watching to see what this crazy foreigner girl was going to do next. Was she having a seizure, a heart attack perhaps!? The concerned faces spelt it out very clearly. After explaining or rather showing everyone what had happened by using sign language and gesturing towards my soup, everyone resumed their morning but this time with small giggling whispers to each other and bright smiles on their faces. Glad I could be of service to the lovely people of Phnom Penh! :)
So this misadventure of mine was right after going to the Central Market to find a couple of things that I needed. After successfully finding everything, was when I ventured into the diner where I lost my taste buds. Later on I headed towards the river to find the Seeing Eyes blind masseuse place. I've only gotten one Thai massage since in Asia. Oh wait! How could I forget? I got one from Raquel which was absolutely fabulous, thank you very much! She took classes in Chiang Mai for proper Thai massage, and let me tell you, she must've paid a lot of attention in class because it was lovely.
When I finally located the place, I had to wake up the receptionist who seemed quite angry about that. The style that they specialized at this establishment was the Japanese Anma and Shiatsu massage technique whih adresses the hundreds of pressure points in the body in order to relax the body and to relieve any ailments. After I paid the seven dollars for an hour, I was led up two flights of stairs down a narrow corridor resembling an old stuffy USSR hospital. I could hear a lively tune coming from the distance but could not tell what language it was in. Otherwise, it was very quiet. We stopped at the end of a hallway and the receptionist nodded towards a big white door in front of me which read, 'Silence please. Beds 1 -9.' When I opened the door I discovered a room with pale blue walls, two windows covered by heavy beige curtains, and nine massage beds spread out throughout the room with three in each row. There was a changing in two corners of the room and lockers. The lighting was bright and fluorescent, almost angry and certainly not soothing. There was soft French music playing from the speakers on the left side of the room on the wall. But the most disturbing sight was three people, two women and a man, wearing light blue pants and shirts resembling hospital gowns, each sleeping on a bed. But when I walked in they all rose as one and turned their heads towards me. Their white empty eyes were gazing back at me accompanied by expressionless faces. At that moment I got the strangest feeling that they were staring right into my soul. And of course, in reality, they were all blind but I felt naked and exposed in their company. I can't really explain why I felt that way but I did. The receptionist exchanged a couple short phrases with the man whose slumber I disturbed. I was given a blue shir and pants to change into and was told that this man would be my masseuse today. The receptionist left and closed the door behind him. The room was completely silent but for the happy old French music playing. The air con was blasting full power so it was quite nice. However, I was getting chills because I felt like I was in an episode of Twight Zone. I just had this strange unsettling feeling and uneasiness. But I changed and went to sit down on one of the beds. I was watching the man prepare a table for me but then he slowly shuffled out of the room. I figured he was giving me time to change. So I sat there for a couple minutes but then decided to go and check where he was. I didn't know the proper procedure or the language so it was a bit strange. When I peeked out the door in my little blue outfit, I heard someone talking with hushed voices and I was stretching my body out the door without actually stepping outside of the room, like a cat scared of something, I saw the man come out of a room next to the one I was in. He was walking back towards this room and I got scared so I ran back inside and sat down on the very last bed on the left side of the room. When the masseuse came back, he said 'Hello' in English and then told me to lay down on my stomach on the bed which he had prepared before leaving the room. He was a petite man, with jet black hair which was greying a bit by the temples. He was probably about thirty five. His name was Lua. He asked me whether I had any problems and I answered with a 'No' because I didn't want him to focus on any part of my body but just do everything together. He started by walking a full 360 around the table while getting acquainted with where everything was on my body. Head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, back, spine, legs, feet. I was still spooked by the whole setting that I could not relax at all. As my head was down, looking through the little hole towards the floor, I kept my ears perked. The peppy French music kept on playing and I started thinking of scary movies that I have seen which had involved hospitals or people getting their organs removed. In those films, sometimes there will be a pleasant tune playing while some innitially harmless seeming character is peacefully killin someone. Of course I was trying to make those thoughts go away but I just could not. Plus, Lua kept stopping once in a while and everytime he did, I would lift my head to see what he was doing. One of the times I didn't look, it sounded like he had picked up some object which freaked me out so I looked right away, alarmed. It turned out to be a clock that says the time out loud when you press a button. Anout halfway through the session, I finally relaxed and surrendered to the moment. The massage wasn't as relaxing as I expected it. In fact, it was quite painful. With me closing my eyes shut very tightly and wrinkling my nose, with some occasional sounds of pain escaping my mouth. Though I was still a bit creeped out, I was mostly enjoying the moment. I was thinking that out of the seven dollars that I paid at the front desk, the masseuse probably gets a very small cut. So I decided to give him some money directly. I wasn't sure how he would react but when an hour has passed and I was about to leave after changing, I walked over to Lua to say thank you. Then I took his hand and put five dollars in it. And I tapped on all five of his fingers, one at a time, counting up to five out loud. When he realized how much I had given him, his face acquiered some light and his smile grew. He started thanking me in both English and Cambodian. He had tears in his eyes. That was enough of a reward for me and a solid confirmation that I had made the right decision.
I walked out of the massage house feeling like a freshly watered flower. Tall, bright and smiling.
I continued walking down the street along the river until I found a bench facing the river.
When I sat down, I decided to write a bit. Before I had a chance to finish my first sentence, a white older man sat down on a bench next to me and said hello. I answered with a simple hello and continued writing. He obviously wasn't going to stop at hello, I knew so I finished my sentence and didn't start a new one so it couldn't be interrupted.
The guy started to tell me about his life and how he has a kid here in Cambodia and is enjoying living in this primitive world. He also went to tell me that he had written a book called Flip Telepathy. He claims to have telepathic powers and teaches people how to tap into their own telepathic fields. He said that we can all do it, we just need to learn how to use those powers. And that's where he comes in. Thomas Colby. After our conversation, I went online checked out to see if he was lying but it all checked out. Same guy, same book. So Tom went on to tell me how he discovered that he had telepathic powers with a story about his truck driving days in Michigan. He pretty much realized that he could understand truck noises and other I inanimate objects. Not only hear them, but understand them as well. And of course, the whole time I was listening to the story I kept wondering whether he was telling the truth or just had a really colorful imagination. Who knows but it was definitely an interesting and very random part of my day.
After walking around all day, I took a motor bike back to the guesthouse. So you pretty much hop on the back of a motorcycle and wizz through town all for only fifty cents. Not bad...
I feel like I just walked into an alternate universe. There is a restaurant & bar that seems to be open 24/7. It's quite nice and ritzy so I never really thought about going there unless maybe with friends. But apparently on Sunday evening in Phnom Penh, trying to find an open shop is like trying to find a Polar bear in the Sahara desert. But like I said, the restaurant across the street is always open, this Sunday evening not being an exception. So since I was hungry and thirsty, I figured I'll walk over there and check it out. When I walked in, it was as if the music had just stopped and I was the cause for it, it might as well has been. It wouldn't be the first time.
So as I walked into this fancy establishment filled strictly with posh young locals, I knew this would be an interesting place. When I spotted a waitress and attempted to ask her whether they still served food or only drinks, she ran away giggling, leaving a trail of the commonly heard 'no engliiiish'. So I moved on to the next person who looked like they worked here and inquired the same thing. You can already what the reaction was. Same same and not different, at all. Finally, a nice local guy helped me out, who has been giggling with his group over my failed attempt at communication and putting an imaginary fork into my mouth as well as drinking an imaginary drink. He stood up and asked the waitress what i assumed was the same thing I was inquiring about. The waitress immediately directed me to a table. This place was a bit pricey so I figured since I'll be paying five dollars for a meal, I might as well pick something cool. So I went with fried then sautéed frog cooked in Cambodian spices and my latest addiction, a nice and cold Coke. When my frogs arrived, I was quite excited to try it and when I did, I was not disappointed. It was delicious. A couple minutes into my meal, I spotted two of my lovely roommates coming in with their friends who had just arrived. Becky and Mairi both go to Edinborough University in the UK and were great girls to share a room with. Both very funny and sweet. I hope to run into them again soon!
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