Thanksgiving

I never got a chance to finish my Birth-Giving entry from November, so here's a quick rundown of the actual postbirthday Thanksgiving party. Because we had to do the meal on Saturday instead of Sunday this year (due to Heather working all day Sunday and only PART of Saturday), I had to spend I think three nights over the week, including my birthday, preparing food that could be refrigerated for a few days. I got to Heather's house early afternoon on Saturday to finish. My Estimated Time of Dinner was 7:00, but I knew I'd never make it.

Grace from work was supposed to come early and help me, but bailed at the last minute. It really pisses me off when someone offers to do something unbidden, then doesn't do it, with no warning. This happens a lot in Korea. Luckily Heather's daughter Kate enjoys helping me cook, and she had a friend with her, so I had a couple assistants for a little while.

I didn't make it such a production this year, because I didn't really have the money. It's expensive paying for pretty much the whole thing by yourself, even back home. Heather bought some of the ingredients and the chicken again this year, so that helped. It also took some weight off my shoulders that she bought the chicken preroasted. She said mine was good, but Costco's was better. Heather isn't known for her tact.

Anyway, here's a picture of the meal. We had chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, rolls, squash, deviled eggs (as appetizers), eggnog, and apple cider. Lee, one of the teachers from work, also brought wine, and Heather bought beer. I had also made cranberry sauce earlier in the week, but I goddamn forgot about it until the day after the meal. I was really mad, because it cost me like fifteen bucks to make. The flowers on the table were also from Lee--a gift to Heather for hosting. For dessert we had one of my leftover birthday cakes (the one I bought), chocolate cream pie with whipped cream, and this really awesome pumpkin pie I made with a recipe that called for vanilla ice cream in the filling. It came out so well that I was extremely pissed to find that when I went back to Heather's for some of the rest of the leftovers a night or two later (I had to walk home on Saturday, so I couldn't bring everything that night) and found that her father had eaten the rest of the first pie and all of the second. I've learned from this and other events that I should never leave things at Heather's if I want them back: they always end up, in whole or in part, lost or eaten.







About the same amount of people showed up as last year. All of the other foreign teachers came, except Moriah, who was back in the States for a few weeks, but the only Korean teacher who came was Lee, despite my having invited all of them, and a couple having seemed quite excited for the event. Oh, Korea. Other than that it was Heather's nuclear family, Kate's friend, and Heather's niece and nephew. I really love her nephew, Jiseok, although he was being quite saucy that night, trying to take my shirt off and other such inappropriateness. We all (sort of) joked he learned that kind of behavior from his father.

Lee and Leon, not really arm wrestling:


Heather said it took her the whole day on Sunday to clean up, I assume beyond the time she spent at work. Normally when I cook at someone's house, I clean up after myself, but I spent something like 15 hours and nearly 100,000 won to cook food for her family and employees, and was cleaning up as best I could as I went along, so I don't feel guilty about leaving a room full of dishes and messes. She insisted I leave it, anyway. I left quite a bit of leftovers for them, there, too, not to mention those exquisite pumpkin pies.

Leaving

I took another bus back to Phnom Penh on my last day in Cambodia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bus was a double-decker. I'd never been on one of those before.




I was even more pleasantly surprised to find out how incredibly spacious the inside was. I had room to stretch out my legs entirely.


Then reality set in when the bus pulled into the station in Sihanoukville and we all had to get out and get onto another double-decker bus.


The second bus had as little leg room as the buses I'd been on before, and I had trouble finding my seat because the seat number on my ticket was written so illegibly. Two people had to help me figure it out. The only advantage of this bus was that it had a bathroom, but I didn't have to use it, boooo-urns.

The bus broke down after about four hours and we stood around for a while. Then some of the passengers flagged down a taxi van and were going to make the last half hour of the trip in that. They had room for one more, so I hopped in. It only cost us a buck each.

I still had a couple hours before I needed to be at the airport, so I stopped at some random hole in the wall for a soda. It was not good. All the chairs were facing away from the street, too. I thought that was very strange, but then I saw that there was a tv at the back of the restaurant, but it wasn't on. The old lady of the place thought I was so precious.

At the airport they had one of those suite flatscreens in the check-in area, and I got to watch this movie in which Brittany Murphy learns to be a ramen chef in Japan. Then in Ho Chi Minh I got to watch No Country for Old Men. Then I went home. It was cold. I was pissed.

Occheuteal Beach

After my day trip the Reap National Park, I still had a good portion of the day left, so I went over to the beach to spend the evening. I found a bar that looked fine and got a coffee shake and sat down on one of the chairs set out on the sand.







I was pretty much immediately bombarded by vendors--kids selling bracelets and women doing manicures and pedicures mostly. I ended up accepting a mani-pedi, since it was only five bucks, and I knew as soon as I said yes that the chick I'd been forced to pinky-swear to about those services would show up and get pissed. I mentioned her in my Quick Note entry in late December (or maybe the first of the year). Of course she did show up, and I figured I should make it up to her, so I let her thread my legs. All the ladies offering it claimed it would stop my hair from growing for three months, which of course is bullshit, but I thought the experience would be interesting, anyway. Here's a video of what she was doing:


Although my legs felt smooth when she was done, I noticed later that the hair was in fact not gone, and was the same length it had been before she started. My only theory is that the baby powder she rubbed all over my legs was thick enough that it ran flush with the ends of the hair, making it seem like it had been removed. Back at home, I searched the internets for the idea that threading is a scam, but didn't come up with anything. It seems to be a legitimate hair removal method in several places around the world. It must just be a scam by these chicks, as opposed to the entire practice.

The thing about these vendors is that instead of being deterred by someone else selling to a customer, they are actually drawn to the same person, trying to sell the same goods and services that they've clearly already bought. I guess it's more that they sense weakness and they assume it's easier to target an existing target than to try to start fresh with someone else. Thus, I had to turn away a number of chicks with beauty baskets, and several little boys trying to raise money "for school" (not sure if that's true) by selling bracelets. One method they have when you refuse is suggesting playing a game of Tic Tac Toe. If you win, you get a free bracelet, but if you lose, you have to buy one. I didn't play with the boy who tried that with me, and he got pissed and stalked off, trying to swear at me in English. He said some nonsensical string of words that sounded something like, "Damn dog stupid bitch ass." I laughed at him.

Later I went to another beachside place and got some supper. It wasn't very good.

The bar still had a Christmas tree out. I don't think you can really tell, but it's money hanging from the tree. That's how worthless their currency is. It could have been fake money, of course, but maybe not.



After supper I think I went back to the hotel to rest for a while. I assumed that there would be a major crowd and event on the beach, so I went back at like 11:30. It was pretty outrageous, actually. I wish I'd brought my camera, but I was so scared being alone in such a big crowd that I would get it snatched right out of my hands or something. There was no organized event, per se, but people had been selling roman candles all day on the beach, and the area was so packed with people setting them off that you could barely move around, or see the sky. I've never seen so many firecrackers go off at once. Occasionally, someone would set something off in the sand, but there would be no warning, so a bunch of people around me would suddenly scream and scatter to avoid getting shot with sparks.

It went on like this incessantly until well after midnight. Around 12:30 I decided it was getting too dangerous, since people kept setting off firecrackers on the ground, or accidentally dropping them on the ground, where they'd continue shooting little fireballs at our ankles.

This is from when I was eating, before the major fireforce started. Imagine this time a hundred once it got close to midnight:

My last full day in Cambodia I spent getting a two-hour Thai massage, having lunch and doing a little shopping on the beach, and generally relaxing. Here are some shots from that day:







The street behind the beach was filled with dirty lots:



When I went back to the beach to swim and eat in the evening, I happened to see my tour guide from the previous day. He was really glad to see me, and spent two or three hours with me, eating supper and having a couple beers. I think he was pretty sad when I went back to my hotel (alone). He gave me his card. But I had to get up early the next day to leave for Phnom Penh, so I couldn't stay out or up all night.

New Year's Eve Sihanoukville

As I recall, the 31st was the day I went to Ream National Park on a day-long excursion. I booked it with a travel agency down the street instead of with my guesthouse, because usually the hotels charge more. In this case, I was wrong, though, and it ended up being a mistake to book elsewhere. Not only was it all the same three excursions everywhere, but they were all the same price everywhere, too.

I was supposed to be picked up at 8:00, I think, but after 9:00 the tour bus still hadn't come, so the hotel called for me. It turns out they had forgotten to pick me up, so I had to go down the street to the travel agent, who brought me across the street to where everyone else on the tour had just finished breakfast and were loaded in the van. Breakfast was included in the fee, so they gave me a baguette with little butter and jam packets, and I ate on the bus. It was kind of disappointing. I would have liked some coffee or something.

Here's the dock where we started:



There were several boats leaving at the same time, with several groups. Because everyone was already loaded on the van by the time I got there, and I was concentrating on eating my baguette for most of the trip to the park, I didn't get a good look at anyone on my tour. Consequently, I had a little trouble figuring out who to follow and which boat to get on. It all worked out in the end, though. Luckily our tour guide was wearing a bright yellow shirt with a little handkerchief tied around his neck. How very Fred.

Our boat:


I'd like to think my boat-boarding was a little more graceful, or at least balanced, than some of the other tourists'. Maybe not, though.


Leaving:


No one told us how incredibly long the boat ride to our destination would be. It was two hours, and we saw a lot of water, mangroves, and fishermen:







The boat took us to this really nice, almost deserted beach, with clean sand and clear blue water, where we only spent an hour. I could have stayed there all day.





After the beach, we took a half-hour walk through the woods to our lunch spot:




We passed by a home or two, where easily the best part of the trip happened:


These kids started doing that as soon as they saw the first few people in our group come, and they kept starting back up every time more people came. It was awesome. I actually didn't even notice that that one boy was banging the sticks together until I watched the video just now. It's funny how much you miss from behind the camera.

Our lunch was fried barracuda with salad and fruit, and sweet, sweet Coca Cola. I don't drink Coke much because of all the sugar, but sometimes it's just amazing, especially in Asia.

We lunched with some of the local wildlife:


This cat allowed people to pet her, so I got in my kitty fix. I tried to pick her up, but I noticed a bulge on her stomach when I put my hand under her, so I figured she was pregnant and I shouldn't do it.









After a little while, the guide told us we had to go quickly, since the tide was going out and we needed to ride out with it or be stuck there for the night.

We got stuck on sand dunes a couple times in the beginning, and one of the boatmen had to hop out in the back and another had to use a pole to guide the boat back to deeper waters.


More fishermen:


In fact, the water was so shallow, there was at least this guy walking around in the middle of it.



On the way back I listened to my iPod since I knew it'd be a while before we got back. All in all, I guess it was a worthwhile trip, since I had a nice swim and a nice lunch, and I saw those boys singing Hello. But if I'd had to pay more than the 20 bucks I spent (plus $4 in tips to the boatmen and tour guide), I'd have been kind of pissed.

Arriving in Sihanoukville

I stayed in the Orchidee Guesthouse in Sihanoukville, in a little neighborhood a couple blocks from the beach. I was disappointed when I couldn't book myself a beachfront property, but when I got to the beach, I realized why it was so difficult: the beach is covered in bars, right up to the water. There are places to stay, even free places to stay, but anything with any amenities (like a real bed or a private bathroom, let alone a pool or a tv) was off a ways from the shore.


This is the neighborhood I was in. It looks really nice from these pictures:




This seems a little more accurate. There was a bunch of construction right next door going the whole time (never bothered me, though), and the rest of the street is significantly less polished than the couple hotels immediately surrounding the guesthouse.




Driveway:


Restaurant (free breakfast):

Upper deck:


Cycle port:


I didn't take any pictures of the lobby, come to think of it. It was small and nothing special, though. You walked through a hallway to get to the pool:


And then there was a lot of corridor action:




And a lot of barbed wire action:


I was on the second floor. The room was decent, especially for $22 a night, most especially considering it was New Year's Eve during my stay, when apparently a lot of places tripled their prices. Prebooking pays off.




This little tv got tons of English channels, a lot more than I get in Korea. I was kind of pissed, actually. I try not to watch too much tv, but it's nice to have the option. Anyway, I didn't watch much of this tv, but I did catch a bit of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and all of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I think that's what it's called. Terrible movie.


This painting haunts me still. It's freaky, and ugly.


This bed had sheets. Almost a first for me in Asia.


First hot shower in Cambodia, and given my problems at home with hot water, first hot shower in like a month:



That was kind of boring, so I'll leave you with a nice sunset over Occheuteal Beach photo:


Isn't that special?