May | 2008 | skippenh

Perfect Day

Posted on May 24, 2008 by Skip

Life as those Small Faces so succinctly put it on their classic Ogdens Nut Gone Flake album, is just a bowl of All-Bran – you wake up every morning and its there.

The life of the lucky expat living in Phnom Penh, however, is more often than not a bowl of All-Bran with added fruit, nuts, yoghurt, honey, a soupcon of prahok and a side order of fried crickets washed down with enough snake wine to whet the appetite of the most jaded. In a nutshell (mmm another nut reference), it can be funny, friendly, exciting, exhausting, exasperating, alarming, amazing, tragic, terrible, terrific I could go on and on and on, but Im certain you get the picture. Life in Phnom Penh, indeed in Cambodia, is never, ever boring.

Being the working parents of an extremely lively 16-month old can, however, put some restrictions on how much that wonderful life going on outside the home can be lived. My eyelids usually start to droop around about the closing minutes of American Idol or the Amazing Race Asia (only quality television in our house), and little O, the child in question, puts the seal on the night by standing at the bottom of the stairs, pointing heavenward and repeating the mantra bat! bat! bat! No, we are not infested by flying mice, its just his way of saying its time for you to take me upstairs so I can drench you with the showerhead and throw plastic ducks repeatedly out of the bath onto the floor to give you some exercise, you lazy old dad, you. Staying up past 8.00pm is therefore officially considered a late night, and sadly the only clubbing I experience now is inadvertently delivered by little O as he wallops me with whatever potentially dangerous toy he has at hand. I suppose its all our fault for buying him toys that state clearly not suitable for those under 36 months on them. I plan to hire a professional scientific film crew to document the moment, waking or sleeping, that little O turns 36. Months, that is. I want to know what happens, if some magical transition occurs that will make his behaviour suddenly change and stop him hammering the living hell out of me with his red wooden replica Bugatti formula one racing car or his Forbidden Planet Robby the Robot sometimes I wonder who the baby in this family really is. Oh well, only 20 months to go

So Saturday last we were all in the mood for having a good day. We seemed to be almost fully recovered from the spluttering and sputtering affliction documented in earlier postings, so, in general health terms, all systems appeared to be go. My much better half, A, had unfortunately had a particularly bleak Friday at work and had serious banking issues so was in real need of a grand day out. We had asked our wonderful housekeeper, P, if she would mind staying over to enable us to be dirty stopouts until at least, oh 8.15pm or some other ungodly hour. She jumped at this opportunity. In fact, if there had been a tall building in our neighbourhood she would have leapt it at a single bound. Yes, she is actually a Superwoman. She loves little O, and he loves her back in the completely selfless way that small children (appear) to do. As indeed does his nanny, V, who wasnt able to help that weekend. Having a dynamic duo like those two around the caring roles get pretty blurred as they both dote on him so much. It also means that his grasp of Khmer is already way beyond my laughingly inept attempts (though I can now confidently say the red foreign ghost is coming remind me to tell you why in some future posting). Ive also been known to babble to him in French and Gaelic, and Im sure mum A sneaks in the odd word in Hindi (in a Liverpudlian accent) so I daresay well pay for it later when he reveals to us as a teenager how traumatized he is from his multi-lingual multi-cultural upbringing. It probably will be water off a plastic ducks back to me by then, as I imagine I shall be inhabiting the same mental landscape as grandpa from The Simpsons and blithely bludgeoning my fellow retirement home inmates with Robby the Robot, but those are joys to come for the moment let us rewind, back to last Saturday

Little O, A and I (May we introduce ourselves? We are the Vowel family. Very pleased to meet you. Im really sorry, but E and U are busy at the moment.) began the day by commandeering the good Chairman Mao and his trusty black Tuk-Tuk to take us to the ANZ riverside branch, one of only two open on a Saturday morning, apparently. The Chairman has owned the Chamkarmon Batmobile, as I have affectionately dubbed it, for a few months now, but last Saturday was the first time I had noticed the extremely fetching complementary red spokes on the wheels. I think Ill definitely need to buy him a couple of Hot Wheels racing stripes for Pchum Ben and maybe even a set of bat shaped James Bond style tyre shredders for those hairy moments on Norodom during rush hour. So we arrived at the bank in considerable style, to be greeted by a queue that appeared to be organically snaking out the door and round the block. After a longish wait punctuated by the frequent moans and cries of frustrated foreigners unused to the somewhat random approach to queuing on display we were able to resolve As banking issues and eventually squeeze back through the waiting throngs to where our carriage awaited. We had to pause to allow O to sign autographs Im sorry to be facetious, but being small, very white and golden haired to boot (whither the Indian quarter of his heritage? I know not) he does attract a great deal of attention, which he really thrives on, and he is now expert at the one-handed scribble followed by the casual wave – before clambering back into the Batmobile. We decided to go somewhere to eat breakfast where O could also run around without causing too much havoc, so Gasolina seemed an obvious choice. However, it has changed ownership recently, and is undergoing a revamp, which meant gamely trying to sip a lime soda as the construction (demolition?) squad busied themselves around, behind, beside and on top of us. The staff were their usual lovely smiley happy selves, completely oblivious to the hammering, sawing, painting, plastering et al going on, but we had also inadvertently stumbled upon the weekly meeting of the Doggie Breakfast Club of Phnom Penh, and felt that the sight of grown barangs on their hands and knees lapping water from bowls and growling at each other might prove too much for O to bear (not to mention the effect it must have on their poor dogs), so we decamped to Comme a la Maison for the chewy part of breakfast. CALM is the perfect acronym for Comme a la Maison, a veritable oasis of the same that even worked its laid back Gallic/Khmer magic on the O and sent us on our happy way back home fed, watered and ever so slightly blissed out

Several hours later, O and P waved A and I goodbye as we drove off into the hazy afternoon sunshine, promising that we wouldnt be back too late first stop was Elsewhere, (where else?) so A could meander around the floaty clothes bit and try things on and I could pretty much doze standing up under the cool breeze from the impressive fans, then, A having bought a couple of new things zoom! off to Ambre to pick up my new white suit (stop laughing at the back – see previous blog for details) and to marvel once again at how Romyda can possibly walk in those heels. If my mum were here she would give her a good telling off Youll suffer in later life my dear, you mark my words its not worth it just to be fashionable! a quick detour back home to drop off the purchases and to briefly goo over little O soundly asleep in his hammock, then back into the Batmobile and time for some culture. To Reyum Gallery on street 178, and an exhibition of work by young Cambodian artists that was truly amazing in its scope, execution and imagination. Extremely impressive, and a real indication of the strengths apparent in the re-emerging arts scene in Cambodia, in particular those of the young artists. Culturally elated and sated for the moment, it was to the Batmobile! and – my goodness! Dinner time already? So where to go?

There is absolutely no dearth of choice in PP, from the delicious roadside chek chean stalls to the finest of haute cuisine, and the number of eateries seems to increase on a daily basis. I felt we should have a bit of a treat, but my offer of $5 worth of banana fritters was given short shrift by A, so we decided to pay a visit to Vans. I had a vain hope that this new-ish top end restaurant located next to the Post Office would be something like a Hard Rock Café shrine to the grumpy Irish singer Van Morrison (now will ya look at that on the wall there thats the very drum skin he pushed Bonos head through at Slaine Castle!) but twas not to be. It was, however, equally entertaining, as around 16 young and earnest staff members waited hand, foot, elbow and knee on A and I who happened to be the only two diners in the whole darkly impressive place. I have to say that the food was magnificent, and the service was well, hilarious, though I do not mean that in any malicious way. There seemed to be some kind of game going on which revolved around us being asked to sit outside, change tables several times, and then watch as the glasses and cutlery were alternately removed and replaced from our table seemingly at random. We were tantalized by breadsticks that were brought to our table, then hastily removed, and then replaced again. I started to peer around looking for any hidden cameras perhaps we were the hapless victims of an Apsara TV version of Candid Camera? Two huge leather-bound tomes were then presented to us, and I became quite excited as I thought that these might be the rules of the game. No, they were simply his (with prices) and hers (without prices) menus. So we passed them back and forth and ordered. And waited. And waited. The sun had by now set and the night was drawing in, along with its mosquito accompaniment. Patience is a virtue, and we were pretty virtuous by now, but A was more than a little bemused when she was presented with a bowl of steaming lobster soup when she had actually ordered a glass of red wine. The main courses, when they arrived, were extremely impressive, but we had now decided that we would be really decadent and have dessert somewhere else, so we left Vans with its strange service games and plethora of ever hovering waiters and waitresses, and headed off, off into the night!

A had spent six years in Phnom Penh during the 1990s, so for sentimental reasons (it had hosted her farewell party in 1998) we took a pit stop at Le Deauville near Wat Phnom for a beer or two. For me this fast became a beer or three, or quite possibly four, as I had by now long given up counting. The French drinking songs being somewhat boisterously murdered by the very drunk men seated at the bar eventually began to wear me down, so we decided to decamp to the literally and figuratively cooler atmosphere of the Art Café. One day, if I ever get to New Zealand, I will strive to personally apologise to Professor Jack Body. The good professor probably hadnt bargained upon being pinned into a corner and regaled with my drunken Scottish theorizing on folk music, electric guitars and cultural osmosis ( do you have a moment? Tuareg ex-rebels Tinariwen are a great example of Alex Harveys theory that it is better to face an oncoming army with a guitar and a 30,000 watt Marshall stack than with a machine gun blah, blah, blah), when he signed up to deliver a lecture on Maori traditional music and mythology at the Café, but he tolerated my rantings with extremely good grace before he managed to escape my clutches we were now well past our normal curfew, and if truth be told, heading toward the slightly silly side of tipsy, but I still felt that there was some life left in our tired old frames, so after a slurry goodbye to Anton (incidentally, there is a wonderful exhibition by a young Indonesian printmaker Karina Hariyanto on there until the end of May Phnom Penh-ites, please check it out) we stumbled outside and persuaded a clearly amused and bemused Chairman that a stop off at Malis restaurant on the way home was just what we needed. An encounter with a surly waitress, a large and not awfully convincing ladyboy (no, I am not making this up), a nightcap for me and a heavenly Pumpkin Crème Brûlée later we could be found trying to break in to our house as somebody (yes, me) had forgotten the keys much laughter from the Chairman, our guard and P ensued, and we tiptoed heavily upstairs to bed to slumber noisily whilst awaiting our 5.00am alarm call from little O

We hadnt drunk Sangria in the park, watched a movie or indeed fed animals in the zoo, but we had left our problems alone and had pretty much a Perfect Day

Yes, for the lucky expat, life in Phnom Penh can be much, much more than a bowl of All-Bran

The Soul of my Suit

Posted on May 13, 2008 by Skip

There seems to be a bit of a fashion note creeping into these missives of late, and indeed this particular bunch of virtual scribblings will be no exception, as we proceed through the sickly events of this past week up to your humble correspondents encounter on Saturday last with
The tailors of Ambre!!!

The pained coughs, wheezes, snorts, splutters et al that accompanied our family visit to Siem Reap to celebrate my birthday (and were compounded by our otherwise lovely driver Socheaths attempts to cryogenically freeze the lot of us with his state of the art AC on the way back) carried blithely over into the following week, rendering the entire family prostrate at one point, somewhat resembling the Fort Knox gassing scene in Goldfinger, and effectively knocking Ani and myself completely out of action for a few days.

Poor Ani had to stumble back to school for the latter part of the week, where to compound her already overwhelming miseries a caring parent decided to celebrate their little darlings birthday with a cake. Not just any cake, but a Durian cake. No, for those reading this in western parts, thats not a misprint, the parent was not a major fan of dodgy 80s blow dried Diana -gawd-rester-soul favourites Duran Duran (of whom more later can you wait? Please dont expire from excitement!), but rather a fan of the so called (around these parts anyhow) King of Fruit, the Durian. The Durian is a fruit which is, and here I will steal wholesale from Wikipedia, distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The part that should concern us regarding this particular application of the fruit, is the unique odour. What can I say? The majority of expats I have talked with on the subject seem to agree that the closest verbal approximation of this olfactory experience would be the stench of extremely ripe, cheesy and smelly socks to be honest, I personally dont find the smell too offensive, just slightly reminiscent of the boys changing room in Thurso High School circa 1969 but thats another story

Meanwhile, back at the classroom, there was a bit of a scenario going on. The Durian smell and taste had combined with the wonderful creation of a cream-and-icing-sugar horses head surmounting the cake to induce both hyperactive behaviour and projectile vomiting in many of the children who had wolfishly consumed this treat ah, the sad lot of the early years teacher I was glad to be at home, completely inert in bed, unable to even summon the strength to rotate the click wheel on my I-pod yes, thats how ill I was

As weve just touched on the subject, well briefly pause here for this weeks music recommendation, which is a double album of staggering wonderfullness called Nigerian Rock Special – Psychedelic Afro-Rock and Fuzz Funk in 1970s Nigeria, which is on the Soundway label and is absolutely everything the title implies and more simply loonpantfully magnificent! Do check it out if you yearn for the past joys of a well trodden wah-wah ok, ad break over, back to the blog

Saturday dawned, and we decided that although still hacking and sputtering, we would venture forth into the balmy Phnom Penh day and do a bit of shopping. In July we are going to decant briefly to New York, to attend a reunion and celebration of the Indian branch of our family tree, and of course the big question that hangs around this event, looming ominously and even larger than where are we going to stay is WHAT ARE WE GOING TO WEAR?. Now, in my mind that had translated into what are Ani and little O going to wear, as I had already mentally commited to the universal trousers and shirt, any colour for the formal, and jeans and t-shirt, any colour for the informal aspects of this family gathering, hoping against hope that no-one would remember I was Scottish and attempt to force me into kilted garb but lets face it, Im not really built for a kilt, leaning more toward the Russ Abbott than the Mel Gibson (good Scotsmen both, eh?). However, a sneaking suspicion lingered that perhaps I might just have to make a bit more of an effort on the formal wear front

So Saturday afternoon it was into the good Chairman Maos black wrestling-sticker bedecked Tuk-Tuk, first stop the Russian Market, to buy some material to construct (is that the appropriate word?) a suitable garment for Otis. We spared him the excitement of the market, though truthfully we actually spared the market the excitement of the young Oti. Hes fifteen months old now, and at the stage where everything is in reach, by fair means or foul, and equally everything must be investigated fully and tested, tasted, prodded, pulled, poked, stretched, bent, bounced you get the picture, Im sure. He is, I have to say, generally very well-behaved in public, indeed a veritable charmer, but in the warren-like confines of the market where an inopportune tug could cause the very fabric of the building to collapse upon itself its best not to take any risks. We sweated and haggled, and came away with some very nice white linen and also some very wonderful yet bizarre material which combined skulls, swords and flamingos to startlingly weird effect should make a very nice waistcoat for the wee chap and a talking point for the nannies. We left the market in cheerful spirits, then Ani announced that she wanted to visit Ambre.

Ambre is an incredibly stylish designer fashion shop located in a beautiful town house in Phnom Penh. Here one can marvel not only at the rainbow-hued glamorous designs of the stunning Ms Romyda Keth, but also greatly marvel at how she can possibly stand, let alone walk, in her incredibly high heels, and indeed further marvel at the attempts of the manifold western women who are trying to squeeze into designs which are plainly targeted at the delicate sylph-like lines of the asian female form. I firmly believe that a survey would reveal the most oft-quoted line the staff in Ambre hear would be do you have that in a bigger size?. We were sheperded in, shielded from the by now driving rain by umbrellas, and entered this urbane and urbane oasis of cool. As Ani looked around the many rooms in search of inspiration I sat there feeling even shabbier and scruffier than usual as vertical feet Romyda and her team whisked and fussed around their clientele looking impossibly chic, though I was cheered that unlike the other western men there at that time at least I wasnt garbed in the appalling uniform of long shorts and shapeless t-shirt. Ani came back to find me sitting disconsolate outside the changing rooms (that sounds bad, doesnt it, but the truth is that this place is so chic I didnt even realise I was sitting outside the changing rooms none of that M&S only four items at a time and thousands of coat hangers lying around malarkey here). OK, lets go I ventured, gearing up for a sprint downstairs and out the door as fast as my fake Birkenstocks would take me. It was not to be.

why dont we have a look at the mens stuff she said.
Somewhere in the distance a muffled bell tolled. A door slammed, and a lone tumbleweed bounced forlornly past, small eddies of dust following in its wake. The silence seemed to last for an eternity. Without looking up, I replied.
No
come on said Ani, dont be silly. Just a quick look, then we can go.
I should have just wriggled away from those ensnaring words and leapt the finely-wrought bannister to freedom, but I did not. I grudgingly followed her down the steps to the mens department, trying to remain hovering just outside the door but ultimately failing and being drawn inexorably into a world of immaculately tailored suits and shirts.

Her eyes had already alighted upon a white suit racked near the door, and almost before I set foot inside had whisked it from its hanger to proffer before me I had no time to splutter my usual stream of negatives before a tiny and pristine Cambodian man in a beautifully fitted pink shirt and white pencil thin trousers appeared, apparently from nowhere, in what to me was an eerie echo of Mr Benns shopkeeper. What bizarre adventure was I going to be hurled into?, I pondered as he expertly fed my unwilling arms into the crisp white sleeves. In my feverish imagination I was now firmly in the stereotyped domain of The Fast Show, of Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width, the Rag Trade, Grace Brothers menswear department and every other camp cliché abounding around mens tailoring, fully expecting to now hear Khmer variations on oooh, suits you sir, which side does sir dress??, let me just warm my tape measure et al. What I actually received was a ruthlessly efficient fitting, interrupted briefly by a French man(ager?) who had been watching from the door and momentarily imposed his views on how to stick pins into me upon efficient pinkshirtman. In these situations, where I am clearly out of my depth and have no control whatsoever over unfolding events, I sink to using puerile humour to (mainly) reassure myself. This was no exception. Everything from mirror based attempts at humour (you looking at me? Who you lookin at then?), to every tenuous white suit related association I could muster (havent you watched any Ealing films? Look what happened to Alec Guiness! Just call me scarface Hi, Im Tony, Tony Manero chwanna dance? Her name is Rio, and she dances on the sand, lets all get up and dance to a song that was a hit before your mother was born, the name is BondBasildon Bond I was very, very drunk at the time). Yes, I acknowledge that Simon Le Bon wasnt actually wearing a white suit in the video for Rio, but he should have been, shouldnt he? Fitting almost completed, and if truth be told now feeling slightly pleased with how the suit looked expertly cossetting my elderly frame, it was clearly time to try on some shirts. A striped b & w effort suggested by Ani just didnt feel right, and pinkshirtman re-iterated this somewhat brutally as he snatched it from my fumbling grasp Tsk tsk! Too young!. Eventually a plain black silk number was deemed appropriate by all, and what had appeared initially to me to be an ordeal a thousand times more agonising than the comfy chair of the Spanish Inquisition was fast drawing to a good humoured close. Suit and shirt would be ready in one week, and then I would be free to do my John Lennon Abbey Road impersonation (minus the hair and talent) as much as I wanted. Yay!! All the stereotypes flitting around the dusty attics of my brain department had long vanished, and it was with an unusually cocky swagger that I made my way toward the door. As he turned from folding the garment to say goodbye, pinkshirtman smiled and provided the icing on the proverbial cake
I must say sir, you know when you wear that suit, it make you look really

Cool? Dashing? Manly? Debonair?

No.

it make you look really cute

Exit. Stage left.

Messin’ with the Kid

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Skip

so Im sitting next to this young monk, and hes nodding, smiling and somewhat enthusiastically pointing at my trousers. Were perched on the edge of a reservoir in the first gallery of Angkor Wat and have been bonding over bottles of water and our growing mutual disbelief at the behaviour of many of the mostly Asian tourists who are milling around in front of us. One group have just re-enacted what appears to be the curtain call from A Chorus Line on the steps leading up to a prayer area, oblivious of the chanting kneeling people, heads bowed in supplication just metres from them. Another two men are poised in what they believe are Olympic diving positions on the plinths adjoining the prayer area as their friend pushes people out of the way to get the best angle on this momentous pictorial. Im still not quite sure what my trousers have to do with gaining the approval of the monk, as his English is somewhat faltering and my Khmer is still disgracefully lacking (now if he had been a monk driving a moto or a tuk-tuk we would have had less problem communicating I can do all the left, right, straight ahead, thank you stuff pretty convincingly now. However, I have yet to see a monk driving either of those vehicles), so many and curious thoughts are flitting through my mind. Does he like the cut of the material? Maybe he was a tailor before the priesthood called does he want to swap? That rather appeals to me, entering the temple as a crumpled, white-clad, bumbling Palin-ish figure, kroma draped around my neck for mopping the waterfalls of sweat mingled with sunblock that cascade down my face, leaving as a saffron-robed meditative, perhaps a tad incongruous in my socks and Timberland boots. And white face. Then realization gradually dawns as he continues gesticulating. I am almost the only man there not wearing shorts. Or a singlet or muscle t-shirt. His approval is down to my seemingly modestly appropriate apparel. I smile and nod agreement with him. I dont do (and never have done) the shorts and muscles bit. The unkind amongst you will sneer and say, thats because he hasnt got the legs or the muscles for it and you will, of course, be absolutely right. But even if I did, I wouldnt. I am a firm believer in the archetypal Graham Greene-ish Englishman abroad (Scottish variation, of course) look, linen suit, cotton shirt, something to mop the brow with, Panama hat and thank you so much, a large Gin and Tonic would be most welcome to follow. I find myself wondering what my companion would have made of Tomb Raider dear Angelina and her somewhat racy costume I raise my bottle of water to my new young friend; smile and grin at the changes all around, pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday, get down on my knees and pray

A new restaurant cum pub has opened in Phnom Penh, close to the holy shrine to the founder of the city, Wat Phnom. Its called Wat Sup. Yes. Witty, eh? Foreign owned, of course. Sums up the attitude of many to a culture or religion that they simply dont understand, or dont want to understand. Angry of Angkor despairs at the way that so many tourists trample all over the cultural sensitivities of a people in order to get the best shot for the family album or the digital slideshow or the back garden son et lumiere or whatever, but maybe thats the way the world is now, one great theme park that once youve paid the entrance fee you can do whatever you damn well like with I shouldnt moan, really. Im as much the insensitive tourist as the next man or woman, albeit without the grotesque shorts or inappropriate cleavage (that of course could be an untruth, as many of you will not have seen me in the flesh for some time now perhaps I look like Genesis P. Orridge now). Please dont think that my temple visits were all about sitting around grumbling either, as they were not. I had some very spiritually uplifting moments of peace and serenity amongst the ruins also. A potted résumé of the birthday weekend follows, to avoid boredom (mine) each paragraph will be lovingly pastiched in the style of a well known author have fun guessing!

On that day, which was a Friday, the old man, James, packed the suitcases and waited for the taxi with the child. When it came it was not the usual driver.
You are not the usual driver
No. His wife is sick
Ok
They drove to pick up the old mans wife, and then out into the provinces. When they arrived in Siem Reap, they could not find the hotel.
I do not know where it is
Neither do I
Maybe we should call them and ask for directions?
That would be good
They did so, and soon the dark limousine pulled into the dusty car park of the Pavillon DOrient, which was to be their home for the next three days. Tired from the journey, they unloaded the car to the sounds of the surrounding crickets and frogs murmuring a welcome

oh god what a wonderful hotel with a pool and lord knows what lovely staff lolloping around thisway thatway everywhim catering. ah saturday no sitaround day we had an earlystart, up with the lark and away to the temples queues like whoknows clogging and otis coughing and a spluttering in the back. the bairn is ill, anis ill and Im not as chipper as I should be but lollapolulu were here to see some temples and by lord thats what Im going to do Angkor Wat what Wat what an amazing site and sight over the causeway we go lord so many people oh my this is certainly not dublin quick talking to get the better of the temple kids sharp as pocket knives could talk you into buying anything you dont need but yes well have a coke and a seven up nicely chilled if you dont mind two dolla please mista and on to the bayon crumbling yet splendid a bit like yersel I can hear ani thinking too hot in the mid morning sun so back to the hotel for a resty rest rest.

Of the further exploration of the temples, and of the repast enjoyed by all that evening.

Upon awakening from their mid-day slumbers, the formerly weary travelers, although still wracked by wheezes and coughs, decided they would further explore the manifold splendours of the temple complexes surrounding the town. Mr. James summoned the carriage by means of his cellular telephone, and once Ms Anita and the young master Otis were ensconced in comfortable positions in the rear, Mr. James took position at the front with the driver and they began the trip. What ho! What magnificence! These and many other similar cries passed the lips of Mr. James with increasing frequency during that afternoon. Although his wife and child were pale of countenance and in plain sufferance of the ague, or some such malady, they too expressed wonder at the glorious antiquities unfolding in front of them. Mr. James found several moments of incalculable peace in particular during his exploration of the temple known as Ta Phrom, a wondrous sight whereupon the jungle had encroached upon the very buildings in a manner which could only be described as organically magnificent. He sat in splendid isolation for five full minutes, contemplating the wondrousness of the scene around him and finding some inner solace in the still calm surrounding that holy place. All too soon it was time to return to the hotel, thence to dine, which they did in the splendour of the nearby Alliance café, and in the French style so much enamoured of the high-born. I do say, Ms Anita, that was the most splendid filet mignon I have ever eaten. remarked Mr. James, chuckling as he observed the young master Otis attempting to catch the tails of the restaurant cat and her kittens as they played under the table Ill warrant one would be hard-pressed to find a better restaurant in all of fair France! he exclaimed loudly for the benefit of the many customers and the owner who stood nearby. Oh, Mr. James, you are such a card! observed his wife, if one might say just a little embarrassed.

Sunday. The first time I laid eyes on the National Museum in Angkor I was impressed. Very impressed. It was my birthday. A man needs to treat himself once in a while, and why the hell not on his birthday? So I climbed the steps up to the entrance hall and went in. The attendant was the usual smiley character in a yellow jacket with the name of the museum stitched across the front in red. Twelve dollars lighter I was standing in the room of a thousand Buddhas. Buddha can you spare me a dime I thought. Ive always been cynical. Dames like that in a man. I wandered through the galleries, each one more awe-inspiring than the last. Dont get me wrong, Im not big on culture. Hell, one headless armless statue looks like another, just like one headless armless stiff looks like another. But this was something else. Did it change me? Hell, no. Im too old for change. It impressed me though. That was really something. You English? That was the dame in the museum shop. Nah, pretty close. I said. Never give too much away. You know what careless talk does. I bought a present for the kid then called my cab driver. Back at the hotel my wife and the kid were still sick. I let them rest, then called the cab again. We needed to get out, the four walls were closing in. First stop, the Dead Fish Tower. Reminded me of the warehouse where Pretty Boy Kaminskys mob all bit the bullet courtesy of the trigger happy boys from LAPD and thanks to a tip off from me. They were scum and deserved it. No dead fish here, but a pit full of live crocodiles for the kid to taunt. After a burger that was so rare it was running around the table, we called the cab again and headed to a high class joint, the Raffles Hotel, for a couple of cocktails. You could tell by looking at the rubes and dames in there that this was not going to be two shots of redeye for a dollar fifty. Hey, the kid liked running around joints like these so who are we to stop his fun? Hes only a kid. My wife wanted to get back to the hotel. Shed been acting kinda edgy. I wondered if the mob had got to her. I started to feel edgy too. I didnt have a piece with me. Thats a no-no when the lead starts flying she called me to come to the hotel reception. My mouth went dry. This was it. The hit was on, and I was the schmuck in the firing line. I turned the corner, wondering how much I would feel as the slugs started to rip me apart
Happy Birthday to you My wife, the kid, all the staff, lined up with a birthday cake and balloons. I could have cried. But I didnt. Shes kind. She looks after me. That night we went to a classy French joint, Le Bistrot. Its good to eat well and in good company. Im no saint, but Im lucky that Ive got people who love me and care for me. Hell, I love them and care for them too. Later, back at the hotel, I settled down with a fancy drink and loosened my metaphorical private eye tie. You know James, that was such a good birthdayyoure a very lucky man I reminded myself, before that big sleep drew its dark veil over me

Thanks for inspiration (and sincere apologies) to Ernie, Jimmy, Charlie and Ray, and once again thank you to Ani for arranging what was a wonderful birthday weekend and to Oti for, well, for being Oti!

Thanks also to all who sent birthday wishes I do appreciate them very much, despite appearing to be a curmudgeonly old cynic

See you next time, take care!

I Travel

Posted on May 2, 2008 by Skip

This coming weekend one old ruin is going to drag himself along to see another bunch of old ruins, albeit much more awe-inspiring and significant than him. Yes, to celebrate his 52 years on planet earth (feet on the ground, head in the stars!), Ani is taking James and Otis to Angkor Wat for a weekend of temples and relaxation. Which is absolutely wonderful, and will be an undoubted highlight of what will have been a few weeks of pretty intense traveling for your humble correspondent. April saw visits to Laos and Sri Lanka, both beautiful yet troubled countries. Laos was work, but there was the opportunity to travel to the Plain of Jars in the north where my organization is conducting archaeo-clearance operations and to be awestruck by the extent of the aerial bombardment of this tranquil place, that in its green hills and craggy scenery in many ways reminded me of my homeland, the Highlands of Scotland. I stood in a scrapyard where literally thousands of potentially deadly projectiles, mortars, grenades, cluster bombs and other ordnance were scattered around the ground or stacked up in rusting piles awaiting disposal I saw many things that will be difficult to forget in both of these places, but also met up with many, many good people who are simply trying to make things better by getting on with it. We were absolutely delighted to find that a good friend, G.G., had survived the Sri Lankan Tsunami and had restarted his tour business (G.G. Happy Tours, Unawatuna, Sri Lanka – gg@gghappytours.com highly recommended if you are visiting Sri Lanka!). We had not been able to get in touch with him after the disaster and had assumed the worst, but thankfully he had not been at his shop in Unawatuna on that morning. Of course he has been deeply affected by events; he seems to have lost much of the faux-wide-boy sparkle he had previously, but one can only imagine the terrible things he must have seen and dealt with in the days following the deadly waves. He was also lamenting the effect that the conflict in the north and the bombs in Colombo and elsewhere were having on tourism it was true that we saw very few other foreign faces this time compared to previous visits. We said our goodbyes and went back to our hotel a few kilometers away, the Sri Geminu, a wonderfully friendly family run enterprise situated in a staggeringly beautiful location. It was hard to equate the unfolding horror of the images we had watched on our TV screens only a few years ago with the gently lapping waves in the lagoon near our hotel, where we introduced Otis to the sea
Oti this is the sea
Waaaaaaaaaah!
I have to admit he wasnt too keen at first on what must have appeared to him to be a giant infinity pool, or indeed on this sand stuff, but after a few days he settled into the pace of life on the beach with the ease of a sun-bleached traveler, even doing his peculiarly individual take on dancing to the riddums of Bob Marley, ears right up against the bass speaker at a tumbledown beach shack, underneath a huge Rasta flag pinned to the wall. He became a firm favourite of the staff at the hotel for his funny little ways (his favourite activity was playing with the tap next to the steps leading down to the beach who needs beautiful azure lagoons when you have your own controllable source of water?), and they were as sad to see us leave as we were to be going on the last morning they had decorated our tablecloth with flowers and leaves spelling out goodbye it almost brought tears to the eyes of this hardened old cynic. Almost. Our last day was largely spent in Colombo, shopping under the watchful gaze of the heavily armed military patrolling the streets and then spending sunset and early evening at the magnificent Galle Face Hotel, haunt of the late Arthur C. Clarke and many other iconic personages, where again the little O worked his charm on the staff as a spectacular thunderstorm began to develop around us
Mentioning Mr. Clarke (whom I had not realized at that time had recently died its so easy to become disconnected from world events when on holiday) reminds me in a fairly convoluted way (which I shall spare you the details of, dear reader) that it wont be long until the release of Iron Man the movie. I have to confess that I am looking forward to that in a way that is not really befitting the dignified aura that should surround a man of my age. As a young chap I was an avid reader of comics, and of one in particular called Fantastic, which was a weekly British compilation of stories from the U.S. Marvel Comics group, which at that time were quite difficult to obtain in the UK. My absolute favourite was Iron Man, the story of how billionaire scientist and all round playboy/dodgy character Anthony Stark became a force for good as a metal clad superhero. The writing and illustration were uniformly superb, and I have long thought that it would make a magnificent movie if the right balance were struck between the action elements and the usual Marvel character soul-searching that took place in the finely etched frames of the stories. Robert Downey Jr. seems a really good choice for the main role (troubled, intense, hedonistic, dry of wit yes, ticks all the boxes), and I am so pleased that they are planning to use, hurrah!! Iron Man by Black Sabbath as the theme one of the all time great truly heavy metal riffs the countdown is on to its release, and I daresay a dodgy DVD version will be on sale moments after I have finished typing this thats right, Ill be first in the queue!
and so to this weekend, where I shall follow in the footsteps of such great explorers and archaeologists as Angelina Jolie, and, with thumping techno soundtrack thrusting me forward, elbow many thousands of Korean tourists out of the way as I dodge huge stone balls rolling toward me and poison tipped spears whistling past my ears, clambering through the vine bedecked chambers of the ancient temples, halting only to shoot hundreds of digital photographs in search of capturing that elusive yet defining moment. No, no, no, I really must try to pause, to breathe in, to breathe out, to stop the frantic world spinning around me, to put down the camera, put aside the trappings of this materialistic world that we only appear to live in and to take time, seconds, minutes, perhaps even hours to actually savour the experience, and to share the unique communion of one ancient ruin with another
Cosmic, dudes!!!

skippenh

life, music, stuff & nonsense…

Month: May 2008

Perfect Day

The Soul of my Suit

Messin’ with the Kid

I Travel