Again, not dead, just busy. I am now back in the UK and setting the organisation up in the UK. Thanks to all who read my blog, I hope you enjoyed it. This is the last post....
All the best
Ed
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Article on traffic in Phnom Penh
- In a city of 2 million people, 4 people die on the roads every day and 75 are injured.
- $116m is the cost of the traffic accident, which is equal to 3% of Cambodia's GDP
- National Geographic ranked Phnom Penh as the second least livable city in the world
Monday, 18 May 2009
Ramblings of a tired man
I'm in my hotel room in Vientiane, capital of Laos. I've spent the last 45 minutes cursing my air-conditioner for the high pitched noise, only to discover that it's actually crickets outside.
I desperately need a haircut but have been working (and playing) so hard over the weekend that haven't got round to it yet. I've also developed a Phnom Penh Paunch (artist's impression), the result of eating out for every meal for 3 months and taking absolutely no exercise (because it 35c+, there are no pavements and, oh well, I'm lazy!). Consequently I look like one (or both) of those hairy bikers.
I discovered a Swedish Baking House round the corner (how random?) and bought some Kokosbollar, a favourite while I was in Sweden. I'm waiting up till 11:30pm when my partner George (OK, actually GEORGINA!) gets in from work in the UK.
That's it!
I desperately need a haircut but have been working (and playing) so hard over the weekend that haven't got round to it yet. I've also developed a Phnom Penh Paunch (artist's impression), the result of eating out for every meal for 3 months and taking absolutely no exercise (because it 35c+, there are no pavements and, oh well, I'm lazy!). Consequently I look like one (or both) of those hairy bikers.
I discovered a Swedish Baking House round the corner (how random?) and bought some Kokosbollar, a favourite while I was in Sweden. I'm waiting up till 11:30pm when my partner George (OK, actually GEORGINA!) gets in from work in the UK.
That's it!
Friday, 15 May 2009
Vietnam Holidays!
I have spent the last week in Vietnam having a great holiday with my friends Nils and Turid. Snorkelling, exploring villages on beautiful little islands, lots of food... well, you know the routine...
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Not dead, just busy
Super hectic after 2 weeks unpaid holiday, one week management retreat, one week back in the Phnom Penh office then off to Vietnam on this Saturday for a week's unpaid holiday then back to Cambodia at the weekend and then off to Laos for ten days after that. Phew. And the requests for proposals and objectives from management keep on coming. It's good though. Back to it. Bye!
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Sat in a cafe
I am sat in a cafe and in the last ten minutes I have seen:
- a police car with 2 adults and perhaps 8 kids in in, none wearing seatbelts
- A child on a motorbike carrying a 4 foot x 4 foot clothes hanging rail
- A motorbike with three people on it, one of them holding a saline drip bag high up on a bamboo pole.
- Two people on a motorbike carrying a bicycle
- A family of five on a moto
Friday, 24 April 2009
Back from hols
I have just said goodbye to Georgie at the airport after a fantastic 2 week holiday that went in a flash. We did everything you should do on a holiday in Cambodia; saw the incredible Angkor Wat (and other temples), ate shellfish in a shack on the beach in Sihanoukville, ran away from French crystal meth freaks trying to get us to drink some bottle of booze with snakes and scorpions pickled in it, got sick (me and Georgie), got sun burned, ate too much, drank too much, sploshed about in the gulf of Thailand, lounged around in the hotel, explored the rural villages in a tuk tuk, got rained on (RAINED on), felt bad about the poverty, drank champagne back at the hotel...
The bus back from Sihanoukville that apparently takes "a few hours" took us seven and a half hours due to flooding across Phnom Penh. For one hour we traveled about 100m. The road, pavement and every bit of space exploded into a mass of motos, everyone scrambling to find a bit of space to squeeze their way out of the city. You cannot imagine the filth of a flooded Phnom Penh.
Next week I am back off to Sihanoukville for our management retreat.
The bus back from Sihanoukville that apparently takes "a few hours" took us seven and a half hours due to flooding across Phnom Penh. For one hour we traveled about 100m. The road, pavement and every bit of space exploded into a mass of motos, everyone scrambling to find a bit of space to squeeze their way out of the city. You cannot imagine the filth of a flooded Phnom Penh.
Next week I am back off to Sihanoukville for our management retreat.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Impending electric shock
I am waiting with some level of trepidation my first electricity bill. Electric power has only become widespread again in Phnom Penh in the last decade, so I am told, and it's still very dear. My friends paid $100 for electricity in a one bed flat last month...
I have seen the power station. It has about 5 massive exhausts burning... wait for it... diesel . That's why it's so expensive, the whole of Phnom Penh is powered by a massive generator...
*****UPDATE*****
Well, it came... $127 for one month. For what is basically a bed sit! That's the price of aircon and running a fridge freezer in my sheltered outdoor kitchen...
I have seen the power station. It has about 5 massive exhausts burning... wait for it... diesel . That's why it's so expensive, the whole of Phnom Penh is powered by a massive generator...
*****UPDATE*****
Well, it came... $127 for one month. For what is basically a bed sit! That's the price of aircon and running a fridge freezer in my sheltered outdoor kitchen...
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Changes have been made to this post in the spirit of peace and love! Long live the Freebird!
Today is the first day I have walked too and from work, risking life and limb trying to navigate the roads. I'm pretty pleased to report that it was uneventful in terms of major injuries or high excitement mishaps. I did see a stray dog almost get squished.
On Friday I went to the second birthday party of SE Asia Globe magazine. With free food (full scale western BBQ) and free booze in a funky little hotel garden, it was a great way to end a great week. I think I met most of Phnom Penh's movers and shakers. And they met me, which I am sure they are writing about on their blogs right now.
As I write I am sat in one of Phnom Penh's squillions of expat bars. This one is the Freebird. There's a sign on the wall saying "Explosives, when used properly can be a wonderful source of entertainment". I can believe it. I'm here to have the Freebird burger - half a pound of minced beef with bacon and "elemental" cheese. There's only so much rice one can eat, my dear Watson.
Today I got verbal agreement from a client on my first deal at work.The first of many to come, I am sure. The GM did the half joke / half serious "Why don't you stay on here for a year or so...". I'm flattered, but... no...
My love/hate relationship with Phnom Penh continues... right now I love it. Yesterday I hated it... (though was cheered u by the purchase of DVDs of every Royle Family episode ever, every Fawlty Towers episode ever and seven films for $27, about £18). "What did you see when you were in Cambodia, Ed?", "Oh, everything, the Royle Family, Fawlty Towers..."
Thanks for bearing with my stream of consciousness.
Today is the first day I have walked too and from work, risking life and limb trying to navigate the roads. I'm pretty pleased to report that it was uneventful in terms of major injuries or high excitement mishaps. I did see a stray dog almost get squished.
On Friday I went to the second birthday party of SE Asia Globe magazine. With free food (full scale western BBQ) and free booze in a funky little hotel garden, it was a great way to end a great week. I think I met most of Phnom Penh's movers and shakers. And they met me, which I am sure they are writing about on their blogs right now.
As I write I am sat in one of Phnom Penh's squillions of expat bars. This one is the Freebird. There's a sign on the wall saying "Explosives, when used properly can be a wonderful source of entertainment". I can believe it. I'm here to have the Freebird burger - half a pound of minced beef with bacon and "elemental" cheese. There's only so much rice one can eat, my dear Watson.
Today I got verbal agreement from a client on my first deal at work.The first of many to come, I am sure. The GM did the half joke / half serious "Why don't you stay on here for a year or so...". I'm flattered, but... no...
My love/hate relationship with Phnom Penh continues... right now I love it. Yesterday I hated it... (though was cheered u by the purchase of DVDs of every Royle Family episode ever, every Fawlty Towers episode ever and seven films for $27, about £18). "What did you see when you were in Cambodia, Ed?", "Oh, everything, the Royle Family, Fawlty Towers..."
Thanks for bearing with my stream of consciousness.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Yoghurt make man go crazy
It's never a nice feeling to have one's idiocy revealed. That feeling of humiliation as you realise just how stupid you've been. I experienced it today when I told my colleague that I have mango with yogurt and oats for breakfast. Hysterical laughing and head shaking ensued, punctuated with "You put mango... ha ha ha... mango... ha ha... with yoghurt?....ha ha ha!" How could I have been so stupid?
My decision-making proces
I had to create a flowchart for something at work and while Googling some example flowcharts I came up with this one that nicely sums up my own decision-making process, including my decision to pack in a secure, well paid job in a recession to go and live in Cambodia.
Source : www.pootergeek.com/2006/12/the-logic-of-my-life/
Source : www.pootergeek.com/
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Monday, 23 March 2009
Spiders for dinner
MORE PHOTOS HERE (From my friend's blog)
It's 9:30 on Sunday morning and I'm sat on the balcony just having finished a big bowl of noodles and tofu for breakfast. It's really hot already.
Yesterday I went out for a really long walk around Phnom Penh and then in the late afternoon I met with about 15 people from work and we hired a a boat to cruise around the Tonle Sap, Meekong and what ever the other two rivers are caled that converge in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian contingent were asked to bring the snacks. Imagine our delight as they produced whole deep fried finches (I think), silkworms and tarantulas!!! I munched a tarantula's foot (that's a sentence I never thought I would write!). Actually, I'm not sure that they really have feet as such. Maybe an ankle. Or hoof? It tasted pretty much like barbequed salmon skin. The taste itself really is not a problem, it's just the psychological aspect (even James Bond is scared of tarantulas). I was told by my friend that with the silkworms the problem is not just psychological - they really do taste awful. The boat trip descended into a bizaree Kareoke, freak-dance-off. With everyone making proper idiots of themselves. In a good way.
It's 9:30 on Sunday morning and I'm sat on the balcony just having finished a big bowl of noodles and tofu for breakfast. It's really hot already.
Yesterday I went out for a really long walk around Phnom Penh and then in the late afternoon I met with about 15 people from work and we hired a a boat to cruise around the Tonle Sap, Meekong and what ever the other two rivers are caled that converge in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian contingent were asked to bring the snacks. Imagine our delight as they produced whole deep fried finches (I think), silkworms and tarantulas!!! I munched a tarantula's foot (that's a sentence I never thought I would write!). Actually, I'm not sure that they really have feet as such. Maybe an ankle. Or hoof? It tasted pretty much like barbequed salmon skin. The taste itself really is not a problem, it's just the psychological aspect (even James Bond is scared of tarantulas). I was told by my friend that with the silkworms the problem is not just psychological - they really do taste awful. The boat trip descended into a bizaree Kareoke, freak-dance-off. With everyone making proper idiots of themselves. In a good way.
Monday, 16 March 2009
The place to be?
By the time I had walked 200 metres down my street today I had been asked 7 times if I wanted a motobike taxi, two times if I wanted a tuk tuk taxi, I was offered drugs twice and offered my choice of either Cambodian, Vietnamese or Thai girls.
Later I went to the western style supermarket and while in the tuk tuk in a traffic jam I got hit by two street kids (lightly I hasten to add).
Phnom Penh is an interesting place to be. It's an experience. I don't think may people would claim that it's a pleasant place to be.
Later I went to the western style supermarket and while in the tuk tuk in a traffic jam I got hit by two street kids (lightly I hasten to add).
Phnom Penh is an interesting place to be. It's an experience. I don't think may people would claim that it's a pleasant place to be.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
The sweaty spirit of compromise
I just practiced my negotiation skills in order to get the aircon turned down from 30c to 24c.... yep, it's hot today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)