Saturday, December 31, 2011

Singapore Continued..

Stopping by the Sultan Mosque was a great experience because of the wonderful people working at the mosque. The man dressed me in a gown and off I walked in to the mosque.  It was so refreshing being in a mosque after being in over 100 temples in Southeast Asia.  The woman who greeted me told me to feel free to ask any questions and after I walked around, I sat with her and had the nicest conversation about her religion.  She grew up Christian, but then converted to being a Muslim.  Two spirits shared the beauty of seeing the light and how people have a fear with accepting the love of God.  She originally grew up in France and told me about her spiritual journey and her love for living in Singapore.  Beautiful interaction thanks to a spiritual connection from our higher power. 

I walk down Arab street and meet another guy named Jay who owns the nearby restaurant.  He admires my independence in traveling solo.  He invites me to a party the next day, but I have plans with my host.

The man who owned the carpet shop kept his name anonymous as  he was talking about Cronyism and the control of the government.  He said many people are under government contracts and the city hides what is really happening.  Singapore is made into a safe, beautiful wonderland, but I question what happens to those that are poor, under privledged. He says that they are sent to the outskirts of the city out of the tourist’s eye. Where is the real Singapore?

My day is followed by the Marina waterfront and meeting more locals at the waterfront.  In the evening, my host and I enjoy black pepper crab while I walk through the Quays with a beautiful breeze. I sit at a waterfront hotel listening to a man play the piano.  He plays my, “New York, New York” song and we chat about Singapore life yet again.  He comments on all the tourists that come to the Quays and how he enjoys meeting new people=)



Food in Singapore

Singapore is ranking way up there with Bangkok in terms of food.  It is an explosion of Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Indian, Peranakan,  and Portuguese. Many days were hot and I was not hungry for hot food and I could not fit in all these amazing delicacies in one trip. Most foods are eaten in Hawker centers and food courts throughout the city.  Here are some of the main specialities and my favorite dishes:
Descriptions provided by Wiki Travel

Mamak rojak, a dish of various vegetables and fruits, beancurd, seafood deep fried in batter, crushed peanuts, crispy dough crullers, and a spicy and sweet chilli sauce. Traditional Malay / Indonesian and Chinese variants are common as well.

Nasi biryani, a flavoured rice dish cooked or served with mutton, chicken, vegetable or fish curry. Basmati rice is used. Alternatively, dum biryani is a version more akin to the traditional South Asian dish, which is a variant that bakes the spiced meat with the rice.

Roti prata, a local evolution of the Pakistani and Indian paratha. Popular for breakfast or late night supper, this dish is enjoyed by all Singaporeans and commonly served with sugar and curry. A plethora of modern variations are available including egg, cheese, chocolate, masala, durian and even ice cream. It should ideally be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the dough is flipped to attain the right texture, then cooked quickly on a greased stove.

      Ayam buah keluak, a Peranakan dish of chicken stewed with spices and Southeast Asia black nuts.

·         Fish head curry, a dish created by Singapore's Malayalee (an Indian ethnic group from Kerala) community with some Chinese and Malay influences. The head of a red snapper (ikan merah; literally "red fish") is stewed in curry consisting of varying amounts of coconut milk and tamarind juice with vegetables (lady's fingers and brinjal are common). Usually served with either rice or bread.

·         Kari lemak ayam, a Peranakan chicken curry with a coconut milk base.

·         Kari debal, a Eurasian Singaporean curry dish with Portuguese and Peranakan influence. Includes chicken, cabbage, sausage and bacon bits stewed in a curry sauce.

·         Kueh pie tee, a thin and crispy pastry tart shell filled with a spicy, sweet mixture of thinly sliced vegetables and prawns. A popular Peranakan dish.

·         Laksa, thick rice noodles (bee hoon) in a coconut curry gravy with prawn, egg and sometimes with the addition of chicken, tau pok (beancurd puffs) or fish cake. Peranakan in origin. A specifically Singaporean variant (as opposed to shared by Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine) is Katong laksa. Raw or lightly blanched cockles are also usually added to the dish and the cutting of the noodles are a distinctive trademark.

Mango pudding, soy bean milk, mango steen, sugar cane juice, kaya-coconut/jelly spread with toast, and kopi-local coffee with condensed milk.

Loved the place called Toast, which had toast with kaya , kopi, and half boiled eggs for the local breakfast.  Also loved Bread Company, which is the Southeast asian version of Panera.  They had amazing Mountain green tea bread with raisins, sweet yam buns, and steam cakes-amazing addiction for me!

What is being alive all about?

Being alive is about feeling with all your five senses and being thankful in moments throughout the day.  When you eat, you appreciate the food.  When you see the sun, you smile and thank your higher power for the day.  When being outdoors, you appreciate nature anywhere.   You hear your favorite song and your heart beats fast and strong.  You feel  your higher powers spirit in moments of realization or insightful moments.  You dance with your soul and feel beats through your body. You kiss with passion and intensity and touch with your hands and your heart.  People in bad, unfair, unfortunate circumstances  remind you that you are lucky to be ALIVE.  These reminders are happening frequently-not taking moments for granted.  IF you are being ungrateful, it is okay, but identify that feeling.  Why are you feeling ungrateful? Is your environment causing a reactive response?  Feeling with all your five senses makes new experiences meaningful, happier, and thankful=) 
 
“Walking around with your eyes wide open and your senses alive enhances your experience.”  PRIS

The Simple Life in Battambang

Battambang is full of country side and it is a perfect place for a home stay.  I was ready to leave the big city and head to nature, country, waterfalls, and caves.  I found a wonderful family to stay with and was very excited. 
Sarin, Sitah, Vitiyah, and Satiyah-the cutest, most loving family.  I arrived and immediately clicked with Sitah. She has been married to Sarin for 20 years.  I found her to be quite lovely and beautiful.  Sarin heads to work as he used to be a tuk tuk driver, but just recently got a job at as a hotel manager.  He looked so happy and excited, which I congratulated him and was just as excited as him for his new career move. 

Sitah and I had lunch and she told me about her life and her mother who was sick.  She used to work in a hotel full time, but now she just works there on the weekends.  Her English is not the best, but that is what made it so fun piecing together words and teaching her new words and playing shirades-it is fun. 

On this home stay, I really wanted to immerse myself into the village life to authentically feel what they do.  First she started off with a bag of 200 fish that she had to gut and cut up for dinner.  I sat next to her on a brick as they do not have chairs and sit on the pavement or the bricks.  I sat and helped her gut what felt like 200 fish.  My butt was hurting, but I just kept gutting.  She kept telling me I do not have to help and I can go take a nap, but I kept on shaving off the silver and gutting.  She had to keep reminding me how to do it at first, but eventually I caught on and did not mind doing it, but I have to admit my butt was hurting from those bricks.  I was tired and did not want to sit on bricks anymore after gutting 200 small fish. 
After we took a real Cambodian shower together.  Each of us put on a sarong and went into the well using a large measuring cup to bath ourselves. The water was super cold, but something about it was refreshing. Sitah at first dumped it over my head and chills ran through my body as the water was so cold.  But it was actually nice as the sarong helps keep you warmer.  We kept splashing each other while scubbing with Luxe soap and washing our hair.  Immediately after we take off the wet sarong and put on a dry sarong-I loved this experience and will treasure it forever. 

After our shower, I hopped on the back of her motor bike and we went to the sunset at Battutren, which is an old train station where the train elevates you up over the city.  She looked so content watching the sunset as her eyes drifted off throughout it as she was very tired. 

When we arrived home, I met the kids.  The kids are 10 and 11 and they both get very excited when visitors come.  They are quite adorable and some of the most well mannered kids I have ever met. 


We do some jump roping and play soccer and I try to go back and forth between the games and the kitchen to help out. The whole meal time preparation took about 2 hours from the chopping to the mixing of spices to the hammering the fish and making fish balls.  I did not do a good job hammering as it took me forever to make one fish ball.  Sitah has great toned arms and now I know how she gets them.  I was joking that the hammering is  a good stress reliever as I broke down what stress and relief mean.  She catches on quickly.  After making the fish patties, we fry them in the pan.  Fish cakes are actually one of my least favorite foods in the whole world.  I do not like the flavor or taste at all and It taste nothing like just eating a regular fish because the skin is still on.  But I had to eat them as I was a guest and I had to try local food. 


She had me taste the first one I made and it actually tasted okay because it was mixed with curry and some sort of bread crumb, but I still was not fond of it and neither was my stomach.  I ended up waking up in the middle of the night with a huge stomach ache and threw up the fish. 

The next day I had no energy and could not even get out of bed.  I felt so bad as I did not want to say it was the food and just acted like I was sick, but I could tell she knew it was something involving the food.  She took care of me bringing me a coconut and feeding me a flower and honey.  She then went off into town to get me soup.  She is really the sweetest thing and the time I spent with her was precious. 

Feeling a bit better, I taught the kids some American games and songs.  The sun will come out tomorrow-she seemed to love the song. We looked through the photo album with Sitah’s wedding to Sarin where in Cambodia you wear 9 different wedding dresses, which I absolutely love. You could see the precious Kodak moments in that album and the love and unity within the family was present.  Vitiyah went swimming in the lily pond after dinner and I wanted to jump in, but still was not 100 percent. 

I decided to do my laundry the authentic way with well water and soap.  I used one bin to wash and another to rinse and then I hung them all up in the backyard very nicely.  I was very proud of myself and then an hour later it started to pour and all my stuff was wet again.  This is the reality of the living situation so I just hung the clothes under the roof. 

The next morning I wanted to go into the rice field, but it was still raining.  Leaving that day to go to the caves and mountain, I felt so sad leaving Sitah. I felt like I was leaving a friend behind as she found comfort in me talking and being able to laugh and have me help out with her domestic tasks.  I hopped on Sarin's bike and he drove me to the market where we both parted ways.  He was picking up some food for dinner and I was headed to the Killing Caves and mountain top.  Back to traveling and back to the simple life.....


Starting a Brand New Year 2012

Pescatarian-only vegetables, fish, and eggs


No more wasting time with Turkish guy-moving on


Travel


Career moves-Travel writing, volunteering, NGOS, solid experience/organizations


Yoga


Ashram


Be happy and continue self improvement


Be patient, kind, and fair


Keep writing


Continue with past couple years- No hard alcohol and abstaining from physical contact






Thursday, December 29, 2011

How much are we helping vs. hurting?

In Cambodia, you have groups of white tourists coming into tourist areas like Angkor Wat, the Floating village, the markets, and the local kids flock to them.  They see them and try to sell bracelets, books, and postcards.  Tourists buy from the children and they visit orphanages taking pictures with the children.  In one of the billboards, it actually said “Children are not tourist attractions.” This whole idea of helping them by buying from them and spending a few minutes with them taking pictures.  Is this helping or harming children?
I will give an example of the young girl about 10 years old selling bracelets.  Yuskay and I were at dinner and she came to our table trying to sell us a bracelet.  Yuskay and I were astounded with the way she spoke, her mannerisms, and behavior.  This girl spoke like she was 20 years old and after all her talking, I was persuaded to buy a bracelet from her.  She is selling on the pub street with many tourists so with those strategic, persuasive selling tactics definitely make her money.
If she is making good money on the streets, what will motivate her to go and get an education.  She has built up street experience (alternative education) and I will argue that this is real life experience and learning.  She will just keep selling on the street leading to potentially other money making careers like prostitution.

This girl is like many street children who continue to engage in the street life rather than pursuing an education.  Tourists who are coming in thinking they are helping kids purchasing from them are actually harming them.  At the temple, I saw an American couple buy a few things from the girls and then they took a picture with them.  I agree with the billboard that children are not tourist attractions and we should think about our helping when we buy something off the street or when we are coming in as volunteers.
Volunteering is another issue where as Americans we come in wanting to help and implement our own ideas, goal, and plan instead of listening and learning about the needs of the community.  Who are we to come in and try to create change and make a difference when maybe we do not really know how?

People living in these villages know how to survive and live without excess wants and focusing on their real needs.  What do we even know about how a community exists? Do we know how to live off basic needs without electricity and technology? Would we be able to survive?

 Sosune and many other people I talk to speak about their own experience with such doubt and they speak of Americans so highly as if we are superior.  This is not the case as children develop a work ethic at a younger age, they are nurturing, help with domestic tasks, and can do many things that Americans can not.  Sosune said she wishes she knew how to type faster and learned more about history.  I told her that she could do 10 things as a child that many Americans could not do.  What about skills, trades, and manuel labor? That is not an American specialty.  An American may know how to work an iphone, but a Southeast asian knows how to stay warm, cook, clean, or take care of their sibling.  (This was a very general statement, but it is just to demonstrate the natural abilities of human beings that are utilized). 

We are dependent on electronics and technology as those in Cambodia spend time outside talking, socializing, interacting with tourists, working outdoors, and having skilled trades, which is diminishing more and more overtime in America. 
If 80 percent of our behavior is learned through interpersonal action who is really doing the learning? Americans sitting in cublicles, watching television, and movies. Sosune said she can only watch a maximum of 15 minutes of television per day.  I had lazy days where I would watch TV for hours and that is such a lazy behavior.  It can all be debated, but it is interesting to think about and I just like to remember that we are all equal and although some may think it-Americans are not superior to everyone else.

Angkor Wat Half Marathon with Cambodian Children’s Society

Originally Chris from Don Dhet Laos had told me about the half marathon race in Angkor wat, which ended up being perfect timing for me.  I mentioned it to Sie and he said the kids would be running the 3k.  He mentioned that they did not have a digital camera so I wanted to take pictures for them.   
Race day was Sunday and I woke up at 4:30am and biked to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise and then meet with the kids.  It fell into place perfectly as after the sunrise I ran into my kids.  We did some stretching and I was trying to pump up their energy levels.  Another volunteer was also here from South Korea.  It is interesting because in South Korea they do not smile. I noticed this with her and my other Korean friend from the tour. They told me it is not common for South Koreans to express emotion. 
As we were getting prepared, they had the drummers making noises and getting everyone hyped up.  I really wanted to run the 10k at least, but I wanted to run with the kids and the other volunteer.
It was finally our time to get to the start line and the kids were so excited. Turns out we got them too excited because they ran off so fast ahead of us that we could not keep up! Cindy and I tried to sprint and cetch up with them, but it did not seem to work.  We found a couple of them at the end of the race and eventually all of us came together. 

I met the director who was very sweet and she was actually the director that was suppose to email me from Trust and Smile NGO.  It is run under the Athena Foundation, but is different from Cambodian Human rights organizations.  The kids were filling up their bags with waters and red bulls and eating lots of bananas-so adorable. 
Here are some photos below:




                                                                  Go Runners!!!!




Volunteering teaching English for a few days with the kids is not nearly enough time and I actually thought about how it may be harder for them for me to start and then leave, but they definitely need English teaching volunteers so even a few days helps them out.  It was wonderful to be a part of their organization. 


Top art student in school and the child I wanted to adopt

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Bike Riding In Kampot and Phrom Penh makes a Turn Around

Riding a bike around Kampot is one of the most pleasurable things ever. It is just a wonderland of real beauty where you are biking through rice fields and small huts, lily fields, and various shades of colors.  Oh how I loved it and I did not want to go back to Phrom Penh, but I had to for the flight leaving Monday morning.
Note to self: Go back to Kampot and Kep! I missed out on Kep with the fresh crab and pepper farms, but there will be another time as I should have left more time for this area of Cambodia.
On the bus, I am like a little kid with a box of crackers, some juice, and looking out the window-I am super content.
As we get back to Phrom Penh, I start to mentally prepare myself for the chaos, noise, and pushy tuk tuk drivers.  I get off the bus and again I have ten drivers come up to me. The one who speaks the best English wins with me so I chose one guy and told the rest to leave me alone. When you have a crowd around you and you are addressing many different people, it is easy for someone to distract you and take something so I stay focused on just one tuk tuk driver. He takes me to the backpacker hostel, which I find all the tourists.  We go from one place to the next and many are full. I just have him drop me off and I decide to walk around and look for a hostel later.  I finally discovered the nice area of Phrom Penh that everyone talks about and I realized that I was staying in a bad area. After asking all those people my first time in Phrom Penh, noone could tell me about the tourist area-really?
I was thankful to have found a nice beach front looking area that reminded me of Miami a bit. I went to my favorite spot, Blue Pumpkin for a coffee and almond croissant.  I sat on the balcony and watched a group of people engage in aerobics. 
After my stop, I decided to walk along the river and running towards me I saw two familiar faces.  As they approached, I realized it was the couple I met in Laos.  The nice couple from New Mexico who used to work at Trader joes and sold their America life for traveling the world. They say how much they like Cambodia over Laos and I agree that Cambodia is much better as well.  We part ways and I decide to walk past the Royal Palace and head to the Independence monument. I stop a local on motor bike and he offers me a ride to a good hostel in town.  I see the Independence monument and the park and realize that this area of Phrom Penh is nice! He gets me over to a nice hostel that is $5 a night and I am lucky to snatch the last room.
 I change and head out to the streets planning for a nice massage and to eat at Warung Bali- a top rated Indonesian cuisine restaurant. The massage place was a little on the expensive side, but I decided to treat myself and oh my it was worth it! The Cambodian girl was beautiful and the guy who sat next to me was totally cute ha! After I headed to Warung Bali to find it closed=( I was so disappointed, but my stomach quickly moved on after eating some amazing Khmer curry at the Khmer Saravan restaurant.  I was chatting with the girl outside selling books about her life in Phrom Penh and she reminded me of the girl in my book-smart, sassy, full of spunk, and curious about anything and everything.  She wanted my to buy Part 2 of the book I was reading, but I politefully declined because I had a hard time finishing Part 1 because it is so graphic and just too sad to read.  
She goes off to bother another table of Australians and I chat with my waiter.  The restaurant closes up and he gives me a ride back to my hotel.  I am happy he gives me a ride because the streets in Phrom Penh scare me at night.  Til tomorrow!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Bokor Hill Station

From one motorbike to the next, I hopped off Paul's bike and went on Chai's bike to head to Bokor Hill.  There was a warm breeze outside that was refreshing. I pulled down my hair and let it flow off into the wind. It smelled like fresh coconut, as I used a natural Cambodia shampoo. We get to know each other as we are riding and I just love his free spirit and funny jokes.  

The town of Bokor hill itself was built by colonial French to escape from the heat of Phrom Penh. They had built a Hotel and Casino, a post office, shops, and aparments on top of the hill, but now it is all abandoned.  At the top of the peak is the Rangers station and the abandoned Old Casino.  And the top of the peak is 3540 feet.  

Riding to to the top we sing Lady gaga, I sing Andrea Bocelli and Josh Grobin, and he sings Khmer hits to me.  We just keep laughing and I can not stop laughing as he sings Lady gaga with his cute broken English.  The weather gets colder as we get closer to the top.  He brings an extra jacket for me and we stop mid point to take pictures. The view keeps getting more and more breathtaking as we get to the top.

At the top, the wind is strong and we walk through fields to see the beginning of sunset. What I did not know was that that day was a Lunar eclipse. This is seriously a dream of mine-a sunset and lunar eclipse.  The moon was on one side while the sun sat on the other-it was incredible. The clouds were so close you could almost touch them, the water was clear and the islands were distant yet so near. The colors were oranges that turned into shades of pink and it just kept changing colors.  The best sunset of my lifetime!

We stop to have some local food and discover a Cambodia wedding nearby! We eat some amazing Lok Lok soup and then peak our heads in the side of the tent to watch the wedding.  There are all sorts of dancers and some female singers that are not too impressive.  The dresses are beautiful and the food looks good. I chat with the security guy in front who welcome me in to join.  Chai has to leave to go back to his family so I decide to join the wedding ha! I go in and do some dancing with these cute, older men(People understand when I say cute I do not mean attractive I mean adorable). The girls are watching and laughing at me.  This is what I do-entertain-make people laugh and smile even if I look stupid- producing many smiles is worth it=)

Kids were sitting outside the tent poking their sticks in trying to pick up cans. I was sneaking cans to them on occasion while the security guard was telling them to go away.  When I leave these kids trail behind me and I smile back to at them as it is time to call it a night.  

I am on my way to Blissful guesthouse and stop at a tourism agency to speak with the owner about the bus. We end up sitting for an hour or two listening to music and chatting about Cambodia, his life and business, and the US. He used to work in the rice fields, but started this tourism business with his brother just a couple years ago.  I forgot his name. I am so disappointed with myself with the difficulty remembering names-fish oil, fish oil, and more fish oil for Priscilla! We part ways and he tells me to come back to Kampot for New Years as he is having a big celebration and I politefully decline, but I tell him "Don't worry my friend, I will be back." 

And I will be back as I love Kampot!

OFF TO KAMPOT CAMBODIA

After being in Phrom Penh for one day I decided to head to Kampot for the weekend as I had to head back for my flight to Singapore on Monday.  I had a feeling I wanted to leave the day before and I just have went with the feeling because Kampot is gorgeous! 

I felt so alive when driving through Kampot! It reminded me of Austria with the lush greens that you passed by for miles and miles.  Halleluyah, I thought as a I drove through the streets of Cambodia. I arrived with glistening water and beautiful sea smells to Kep, which is near Kampot. I realize that I was suppose to stay on the bus so I hop on the motor bike and we ride super fast to cetch up to the bus-honking and waiving we are able to stop the bus and off I got to Kampot ha! I must say it is always an adventure.  

I arrive at one of my favorite guesthouses, The Blissful Guesthouse. It has a gorgeous outdoor area with hammocks and water fountains and guests sit and read and write. The room is $2USD for the dorm, which has eight people in it. Eight people you think noisy right? One of the most peaceful sleeps I have had with the canopy bed and the protective mosquito net.  

The guy working at the desk, Chai and I chat about activities and I tell him about my interest in Bokor Hill station and camping overnight at a temple. He advises me against the camping as it is super windy.  
After some talking, he says that Mr. Srei, his brother can take me and show me all the sights. Mr. Srei shows up on his bike all suave and acting cool. He wants more money that most people, but I prefer someone who is young and speaks English-makes the experience better. After attempts to negociate with Mr. Srei, I throw in the towel and say I will just find someone else. Chai mentions that he gets off work at 4pm and he would be happy to take me.  His words, "Beautiful girl with cute smile, yes, yes I take you." Ha! 

I walked to the city center as I wanted to rent a motor bike to go the caves. It ended up being a difficult task so I decided I would just take a tuk tuk.  The people I asked did not know the caves so that ended up not working.  What did work was meeting a new friend, Paul, from England, in town volunteering who I hopped on his bike and we went to the caves.  He is in Kampot for 4 weeks on a volunteer project and then he plans on doing some traveling through Southeast Asia.  
The drive to the caves was picturesque, I can not describe it as it just stays in my heart forever.  The people were unbelievably friendly and sweet and for a change-they did not want anything in return.  These middle school kids took us into the cave while politefully asking about our background, our interests, and our beliefs. They speak French, German, Khmer, and English? It is unbelievable how grown up these kids are, but again we learn through our interpersonal interaction and these kids are definitely learning.  The boy loves to sing Lady gaga and I think he may be a lady boy when he gets older.  We swing on vines and jump from the cliffs while hearing the sound of bats. This is by far my favorite cave and I am thankful for the kids taking us through as we would just be lost inside it.  
After the caves, we part ways and give them some money.  They requested $2 per child, which we already paid admission for the cave and a few dollars was more than enough.  In these villages children are usually thankful with what you give.  These kids were perhaps too smart for their own good as one of them said, "Effing cheap." I was surprised by that, but did not let that ruin my love for this area.  

We had so head back as I had to meet Chai to go to Bokor Hill Station. 

To be continued......

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

The popular tourist attractions for Phrom Penh are the Shooting Range, the Killing Fields, the Genocide Museum, the Russian Market, and the Central market.  Does anyone see a common theme here? 
Death, negativity, and depressing activities. I decided to just do two the Russian market and the Genocide museum.  Of course, non-touristy attractions along the way such as the Ta Phrom Temple and a primary school where I spent sometime with hopscotch with the kids.
Walking through Phrom Penh in daylight, it is a bit better than night time as there is action in daytime, but I still get an eerie feeling walking the streets. I try to rent a bike and of course it is unsuccessful.  The chances of me having a bike that works are very low on my trip.  The ones I tried did not have brakes and if you ever saw the traffic in Phrom Penh and the way people drive-you would say this is most likely a death sentence. 
 The streets feel full of real culture with many food stands, locals eating noodle soup, preparing local delicacies, and always the tuk tuks roaming the streets looking for customers.  My local interaction is not as strong as other places , but I connect with a few that are genuine and curious about my trip and background.  I also met the cutest little 3 year old who was half Chinese and half Cambodia-what a doll. 
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Musuem

As I have mentioned before, the Khmer rouge came in 1975 and wiped out over 2 million people in Cambodia. The site used to be a high school, but it was used as a Security prison during the regime. They have all the cells still in the same condition with a metal bed and torture chains.  They show the bars where they were tortured and forced to exercise outside.  They have thousands of faces(the photographs taken when first arriving to the prison) looking at you as you walk through.  Some look worried, anxious, petrified, sad, and confused. There are human skulls that they have lined up in cabinets and paintings depicting the torture and tragedy.  The stories that were posted by survivors were heart felt and made me feel such sadness for these people.  

As a human being that sincerely FEELS and is ALIVE, I had difficulty accepting these deaths and the absurdity of this whole regime. These were human beings, teachers, doctors, students, children just wiped out and tortured for absurd reasons.  After this, I spoke with a survivor who was selling his book.  Out of 17,000 imprisoned, there has been record of only 7 survivors.   I knew that I did not want to go to the killing fields as I had already been exposed to enough of the reality of this historical tragedy.  

Here is a description from Wikipedia as it has detail of their routine in prison:

Life in the prison


Upon arrival at the prison, prisoners were photographed and required to give detailed autobiographies, beginning with their childhood and ending with their arrest. After that, they were forced to strip to their underwear, and their possessions were confiscated. The prisoners were then taken to their cells. Those taken to the smaller cells were shackled to the walls or the concrete floor. Those who were held in the large mass cells were collectively shackled to long pieces of iron bar. The shackles were fixed to alternating bars; the prisoners slept with their heads in opposite directions. They slept on the floor without mats, mosquito nets, or blankets. They were forbidden to talk to each other.[1]

The day in the prison began at 4:30 a.m. when prisoners were ordered to strip for inspection. The guards checked to see if the shackles were loose or if the prisoners had hidden objects they could use to commit suicide. Over the years, several prisoners managed to kill themselves, so the guards were very careful in checking the shackles and cells. The prisoners received four small spoonfuls of rice porridge and watery soup of leaves twice a day. Drinking water without asking the guards for permission resulted in serious beatings. The inmates were hosed down every four days.[1]

The prison had very strict regulations, and severe beatings were inflicted upon any prisoner who tried to disobey. Almost every action had to be approved by one of the prison's guards. They were sometimes forced to eat human feces and drink human urine.The unhygienic living conditions in the prison caused skin diseases, lice, rashes, ringworm and other ailments. The prison's medical staffs were untrained and offered treatment only to sustain prisoners’ lives after they had been injured during interrogation. When prisoners were taken from one place to another for interrogation, their faces were covered. Guards and prisoners were not allowed to converse. Moreover, within the prison, people who were in different groups were not allowed to have contact with one another.

Torture and extermination



Waterboard displayed at Tuol Sleng. Prisoners' legs were shackled to the bar on the right, their wrists were restrained to the brackets on the left and water was poured over their face using the blue watering can.


Photos of the victims of the Khmer Rouge line the walls




Cabinets filled with human skulls

Most prisoners at S-21 were held there for two to three months. However, several high-ranking Khmer Rouge cadres were held longer. Within two or three days after they were brought to S-21, all prisoners were taken for interrogation.[1] The torture system at Tuol Sleng was designed to make prisoners confess to whatever crimes they were charged with by their captors. Prisoners were routinely beaten and tortured with electric shocks, searing hot metal instruments and hanging, as well as through the use of various other devices. Some prisoners were cut with knives or suffocated with plastic bags. Other methods for generating confessions included pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds, holding prisoners’ heads under water, and the use of the waterboarding technique (see picture). Females were sometimes raped by the interrogators, even though sexual abuse was against Democratic Kampuchea (DK) policy. The perpetrators who were found out were executed.[1] Although many prisoners died from this kind of abuse, killing them outright was discouraged, since the Khmer Rouge needed their confessions. The "Medical Unit" at Tuol Sleng, however, did kill at least 100 prisoners by bleeding them to death.[4]

In their confessions, the prisoners were asked to describe their personal background. If they were party members, they had to say when they joined the revolution and describe their work assignments in DK. Then the prisoners would relate their supposed treasonous activities in chronological order. The third section of the confession text described prisoners’ thwarted conspiracies and supposed treasonous conversations. At the end, the confessions would list a string of traitors who were the prisoners’ friends, colleagues, or acquaintances. Some lists contained over a hundred names. People whose names were in the confession list were often called in for interrogation.[1]

Typical confessions ran into thousands of words in which the prisoner would interweave true events in their lives with imaginary accounts of their espionage activities for the CIA, the KGB, or Vietnam. The confession of Hu Nim ended with the words "I am not a human being, I'm an animal". A young Englishman named John Dawson Dewhirst who was arrested in August 1978 claimed to have joined the CIA at age 12 upon his father receiving a substantial bribe from a work colleague, also an agent. Physical torture was combined with sleep deprivation and deliberate neglect of the prisoners. The torture implements are on display in the museum. It is believed that the vast majority of prisoners were innocent of the charges against them and that the torture produced false confessions.

For the first year of S-21’s existence, corpses were buried near the prison. However, by the end of 1976, cadres ran out of burial spaces, the prisoner and their family were taken to the Choeung Ek extermination centre, fifteen kilometers from Phnom Penh. There, they were killed by being battered with iron bars, pickaxes, machetes and many other makeshift weapons owing to the scarcity, and subsequent price of ammunition. After the prisoners were executed, the soldiers who had accompanied them from S-21 buried them in graves that held as few as 6 and as many as 100 bodies.












Just Something about Phrom Penh

After learning about the Khmer Rouge and its invasion of Phrom Penh just 30 years ago, I was interested in going there to see what is was like now in 2011. A short and beautiful bus ride from Battambang, I arrived with my new friend from the bus.  My Cambodian friend works in finance in Phrom Penh and he commutes between Phrom Penh, Siem Riep, and Ho Chi Minh for work.  He tells me that he stays in the same guesthouse every time he comes to Phrom Penh and it is very peaceful and quite. Researching a bit about the good areas, I wanted to stay by the Tone Sap Lake, but later I learn that there is no lake because it ran out of water?

Arriving at the bus station, I look out the windows and see huge stacks of garbage and various papers and food covering the streets. I immediately think to myself, "Why did I come here again?" I just was not in the mood for a big city, especially coming from Battambang with kind village locals and natural beauty.  On my trip, I try to monitor my time in the big cities as there is so much beauty in the smaller, "hidden treasures."

Within minutes, 10-12 tuk tuk drivers follow the bus while it comes to a stop and charge the door.  I get out of the bus with my friend and he encourages me to come with him as there are many guesthouses where he is going.  As we have this conversation, ten tuk tuk drivers all stand around like drooling dogs over a piece of steak. It is ridiculous and annoys me as we only need one driver.  I decide to independently see if I can make it to the lake or ask the locals how I can get there-this was a bad decision at 10pm at night. 
In the streets, there is more and more garbage, it is super dark, tuk tuk drivers all sleep in the their tuk tuks, there are many drunk guys, handicapp, and everything looks filfthy.  Walking the streets, I decide to get a tuk tuk and this ends up being a difficult task.  After getting into three different tuk tuks who were either drunk or did not speak English and had no idea of the location.  Again, I tell myself this is preparation for India. I take deep breaths and try to engage in mindfulness technique to calm myself down as I just want to get out of the street and into a clean place.  This point in my trip was really the first time I really experienced a mild panic attack over the dirt-it is something that is difficult for me to handle, but I use my coping strategies and work myself  through it.

I finally found a nice young guy on a motorbike who spoke English, but still he was taking me to guesthouses that looked like dungeons.  He said that this area is not good at night because it is full of the tuk tuk drivers coming in from the villages speaking little English and knowing little about the city. We were riding around looking for guesthouses that were not too expensive, were clean to my standards, and were not full.  At that moment, I felt highly intolerant to dirt and filfth. Something about the city made my skin crawl and I just wanted to get out of there as we continued to drive the streets.  

Usually  I ask to stay outside of the tourist area, but in this case I was craving the tourist area! I kept asking him to take me there, but he kept saying it was too far. I did not have a map and I was just listening to locals who were not listening to me-it was frustrating.  I just settled with the Sunday guesthouse, which was clean and $8 a night, which is the most I have spent on a guesthouse my whole trip, but it is clean! Fewwww!
 

Cultural Shows Siem Riep Cambodia

On a few occasions, I went to see the Khmer dance, which is called the Aspara dance.  The dances I saw varied between Classical, Folk, and Aspara.  The make up costumes, and themes within the performance were quite interesting. 

 The Apsara Dance is a Classical dance inspired by the apsara carvings and sculptures of Angkor and developed in the late 1940s by Queen Sisowath Kossamak. Her grand daughter and protégé, Princess Bopha Devi, was the first star of the Apsara Dance. The central character of the dance, the apsara Mera, leads her coterie of apsaras through a flower garden where they partake of the beauty of the garden. The movements of the dance are distinctly Classical yet, as the dance was developed for theatrical presentation, it is shorter and a bit more relaxed and flowing than most Classical dances, making it both an excellent example of the movements, manner and spirit of Classical dance and at the same time particularly accessible to a modern audience unaccustomed to the style and stories of Khmer dance-drama.

 
Another extremely popular dance included in most traditional dance performances in Siem Reap is the Theatrical Folk Dance known as the 'Fishing Dance.' The Fishing Dance is a playful,  energetic folk dance with a strong, easy-to-follow story line. It was developed in the 1960s at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh and was inspired by the developer's interpretation of certain rather idealized and stereotyped aspects aspects of rural life and young love. Clad in rural attire, a group of young men and women fish with rattan baskets and scoops, dividing their attention between work and flirtatious glances. Women are portrayed as hardworking, shy, demurring and coy, whereas the young men are strong, unrestrained, roguish and assertive. As the dance continues a couple is separated from the group allowing the flirtations between them to intensify, only to be spoiled by the male character playing a bit too rough, leading to her coy rejection. He pokes and plays trying to win her back, bringing only further rejection. Eventually he gently apologizes on bended knee and after some effort, draws a smile and her attention once again. Just as they move together, the group returns, startling the couple and evoking embarrassment as they both rush to their 'proper' roles once again. The men and women exit at opposite sides of the stage, leaving the couple almost alone, but under pressure of the groups, they separate, leaving in opposite directions, yet with index finger placed to mouth, hint of a secret promise to meet again. (In an interesting side note, placing one's index finger to the lips to denote quiet or secrecy is not, generally speaking, a gesture found in Cambodia, but is common in the West. Its employment in the dance probably indicates a certain amount of 'foreign influence' amongst the Cambodian choreographers when the dance was developed in the 1960s.)          
 
From: www.canbypublications.com



Saturday, December 24, 2011

Kompong Pluk Floating Village



One of my best days in Cambodia consisted of a private tour with Sosune, a Cambodian local and Sol, a lovely girl from South Korea.  We went through the market and she described the different kinds of vegetables and fruits while locals were selling fresh fish and meats and kids were playing in wheel barrels with bright smiles.  We then headed on a boat to the Kompong Pluk, which is a floating village on the Tonlae Sap lake.  We chomp on fresh rice that tastes like corn flakes while soaking up the sun and discussing our varying perspectives from US to Cambodia to South Korea. 
 
There are 32 families that live in Kompong Pluk and they make most of their money through selling fresh river fish in the rainy season and working in the rice fields in the dry season. It is really something that one has to see for themselves in terms of the way they live.  Within in the village, there is a primary school and the kids take the boat to school and many people sell fish, pigs, fruits, and even ice cream on the boats.  Most of the huts do not have electricity and are built on stilts high above the ground to avoid flooding.  We stopped and had some tuna sandwiches and watched the kids come back from school. We also went into the Jungle forest floating through trees-quite amazing. 
My talks and many questions for Sosune created such moments of appreciation and enlightment for me.  Basically Sosune is another “Grade A quality” human being.  She is the same age as me and told us her story of working and living in Cambodia, addressed the stereotypes, and really made me feel like I do not deserve all that I have.  She is so appreciative of her job as a tour guide because she gets to interact with other cultures, learn English, and she gets to “talk and smile.” Two of her favorite things to do=) She used to work 20 hour days at a restaurant where she was made to do everything imaginable and made $60 a month.  Many young people in Cambodia work in restaurants, hotels, and have more opportunity if they speak English-making more money.  On average people make $60 to $80 a month.  If you work at a nice restaurant, you may be lucky making $150-$200 
As I listened to her story, I started to tear up and cry because of her beauty. She makes very little money and it does not matter to her.  What is so beautiful about her is her appreciation for her learning and working.  It made me feel like such an ungrateful American and I was angry at myself for what I did make and what she did not.  If I made $60 on a shift waitressing, I would be pissed off and probably would be complaining with another staff about how it was a slow night.  This girl makes $60 per month working 6 days a week 12 hour days.  Wake up and smell the coffee Priscilla. 
In America we always seem to make room for materialism. If we do not have the cash, just charge it. This option not available to Southeast Asia yet why is it available to us? Why are we so privileged? Why I am I privileged? I can borrow thousands of dollars from the government and rack up all sorts credit card debt to support my needs and wants, but these people barely live to support their needs. How is this fair? We are both living, breathing human beings, but the only difference is our environment. I grew up in America and she grew up in Cambodia.
But hard work is a principle of the Buddhist culture. A person works hard and they appreciate the work that they are given.  It seems the less you have, the more you appreciate. With Sosune and many locals, I spent a lot of time learning about Buddhism and how the core principals impact their daily lives, beliefs, and interactions.  The principle of karma exists with people believing something bad will occur if they act negatively towards others.  Sosune was discussing fortune tellers and how they will tell you your fate.  They can tell you if bad spirits are present and how you then go pray to the monks to release the bad spirits.  Those with bad spirits present listen to exactly what the fortune tellers tell them to do.  A fortune person may tell someone their death is approaching as well and their may not be anything they can do-quite scarey to hear, but honest.  This greatly differs from my belief that my fate is in God's hands as I have surrendered to him.  I will not know my fate rather it will just happen in the course of life.  There is no revenge in Buddhism as if someone has a negative interaction with you, you do not continue this negativity or be venegeful.  The Cambodians go to temple once a month for the Full moon, which varies depending on the lunar calendar. Their relationship with their higher power is so open and honest and present in their interactions. They follow their beliefs in their interactions ignoring negativity and staying positive and happy.  
I am a proud Christian, but I am interested in learning about Buddhism and taking away some new principles to my spiritual path.