First day in Cambodia!

There was an undergraduate who snored in the seat behind us as we were on our way to Phnom Penh this morning. Well, it couldn’t be helped; our flight was at 7am this morning and we had to be at the airport at 5.30am (at the very latest) to check in. I am quite lucky to survive till now with only 3 hours of sleep in my system.

Phnom Penh has the most undeveloped international airport I have ever seen. There were planes parked among the long wavy uncut grass and there seemed to be insufficient runway space because the plane made a U-turn on the runway after landing. There was construction going on at the airport as well.

And everywhere there was construction and more construction. Even the undergraduates on the plane with us were heading to Phnom Penh to help build a road.

We took a taxi from the airport to The Pavilion, as Dale was rather impressed with her last stay there and yes, it is an excellent place. The bed that I am sitting on to type this is bigger than my own bed at home! Dale says it used to be the late Queen’s residence. It can give Holland Village in Singapore a run for its money.

On our way to the Family House on St 320, Dale saw something which made her excited. She saw traffic lights. I haven’t been in Cambodia long enough to be excited about traffic lights, but Dale says she did not see that during her trip here last month. And she said it was amazing that everyone was following the traffic light signals.

I’m too much of a city girl. I need to appreciate things which come for granted in a big city like Singapore. Growing up with traffic lights has made me rather blind to them.

It was a rather interesting experience to be on a tuk-tuk. I felt like a local, but at the same time, not a local because everyone else was on motorcycles. There I was, sitting in a tuk-tuk big enough to accommodate 4 people and beside me were motorcycles carrying 3 people (and their things). I felt that I was being extravagant, but I could not imagine struggling with bags of donations (we brought up 45kg of donations) and balancing myself on the motorcycle taxi all at the same time. I had an experience with a motorcycle taxi when I was in Hainan Island (China) last month, but I was only carrying another extra bag in addition to my backpack.

After meeting Sophon, Dale finally gets her own name card. It’s swanky, and has English and Khmer written on both sides. She’s excited about it and gives it out when she can. =) Get one while you can!

I went to explore the Russian Market with Sophon’s daughter while Dale met up with more people and I’m sure I could find more affordable stuff elsewhere because the Russian Market is listed on the map they give to tourists and I’m sure they are touristy prices. Dale obviously does not agree with me. Anyway, the Russian Market gets the thumbs-up for having a great range of fabric.

We went for dinner with Kerri Evans, one of our close donors, and she has this fantastic tuk-tuk which she uses to ferry her 7 kids around.

She says it can easily hold 25 kids or 16 adults. It would be much easier to ferry our kids to and fro lessons and home.



WE WANT ONE! It’s so absolutely cool! ^_^

Internet connection is wonky (but still, better than nothing), so I better end off here.