Phnom Penh Vendors Galore

I think this would be an understatement – Phnom Penh has a very colorful street scene! That’s one of the things I have grown used to (and in fact, have grown to love..) about this place. I guess there’ s something about this place that really appeals to me. I had been called ‘a lakwatsera’ more than a few times. I’m just the sort to wander around, just soaking in the atmosphere of a place, observing what the locals are up to and discovering more and more about their culture by just observing them. Hi-ace says that’s one the things he liked about me, lol! I spend more time wandering about, being curious and learning than getting rid of blackheads or trying on high heels..

flower vendors @ Psah O’Russei

Anyway, back to topic – Phnom Penh street scene. My obvious favorite are the various vendors you can see on the streets..Here’s some snapshots I’ve collected the previous months of vendors selling mostly snacks, drinks, flowers and toys..I’m just not the best of photographers haha I just tend to snap and snap, but here’s just to give you a feel of the place..

second hand clothes @ Boeng Trabaek Market

roasted pig vendors @ O’Russei Market

Bok Lahong (Papaya Salad) Vendor

sausages, dried squid for grilling

steamed sweet corn vendor

clothes, shoes etc along the sidewalk (st. 47)

balloon vendor @ the riverfront

At the onset, I thought ‘uh oh, another chaotic city!’ but looking at everything around me made me realize that all the ‘chaos’ make this a really unique place. I mean, I certainly can’t imagine Phnom Penh withouth those vendors..

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Discovering Cambodian Beauty Salons

The first time I came to Phnom Penh I was amazed by the number of beauty salons operating in the city. There’s practically a salon in every nook and cranny here much like the conspicuous “sari-sari” stores (small retail stores selling sundry items in communities and usually run by housewives)  in the Philippines. Of course, there are also “sari-sari” stores here but I just observed that the number of beauty parlors/salons far outstrips the number  of “sari-sari” stores in most neighborhoods.

Hmmn, Khmer ladies must be vainer than I thought. Over time, I discovered the reason for this and why even with the sheer number of salons here, you still have to queue if you want to have your hair done especially during Saturdays and Sundays..

Khmer’s loves parties, wedding parties in particular. While I was used to attending weddings back home simply attired in casual wear or a cocktail dress and minimal makeup, here in Cambodia, its a different matter. No matter what kind of wedding you are attending, whether the guest reception is on makeshift tents on the streets or in a luxury hotel, all guests come in formal dress with matching elaborate hair and makeup and guys in formal clothes even with bow ties (which I think is uggh! I daresay only James Bond looks good in a bow tie). Back home, there’s an unspoken rule – during weddings, it’s the bride’s day so no one should be lovelier than the bride. I guess that doesn’t apply here and I do find it trying most of the time to distinguish which one is the bride (^o^).

At first, I was really bemused by this. I didn’t understand why and I simply assumed it was all for vanity’s sake. I asked my husband why bother to spend about 3 hours in a salon when you’re just a guest and you go there to greet the couple, then you eat so all in all you spend about an hour in the party. If you attend a wedding a couple of times per month then that is several times visit to the salon. Hairstyling and makeup costs about $5 and up depending on the salon you choose. So salons are really good business here. Is it really worth all the time and money? I dunno but who cares if for only for one day you would feel as glamorous as any socialite?

A Khmer co-worker of my friend once attended a wedding on a Sunday. She spent about 2 hours getting her hair styled and another half an hour applying makeup. She wanted to make the most of the time and money spent so after the wedding party she didn’t remove her makeup, slept sitting upright on a chair so her hairstyle wouldn’t be spoiled. The next morning she went to office elaborately made up with an extravagant hairstyle..Now, wouldn’t that be startling to have a co-worker looking like she’s on her way to a grand party?

Out of curiosity, I tried out the hairstyling services in several salons here and I was amazed by the creativity of these stylists. They could come up with extremely elaborate hairstyles in about an hour. I’d say if you want your hair looking like a garden ;P, or a weaved basket or you want to have the Imelda Marcos look, they could easily whip up your hair in any style you want. A friend here jokingly told me, “Cambodian beauty salons are staffed with stylists with Master’s Degree in hairstyling, makeup and hair straightening.” Lol! If there is such a degree, I would say hairstylists here would easily make the grade.

As for makeup, they are pretty good at it too the way I see it, they just prefer using bold colors but if you want something subtle, then tell tell the makeup artist otherwise you might end up with brilliant green eyeshadows ( I saw one and honestly, she looked really odd..). Personally, I prefer applying makeup by myself since I’m kinda picky about the sponges and the brushes they use in salons.

And, oh, another thing I find a little odd here – They love fake eyelashes, so if you don’t want to wear one or you don’t want to look like you have just been electrocuted and have a perpetually surprised expression, tell the stylist beforehand.

All photos are from a fashion magazine I was browsing when I was having my shampoo and drying done. No copyright violation intended, I simply wanted to give you guys an idea of how creative stylists here can be.

Wordless Wednesday 02: Really Ornate

Photo taken in Wat Ang Chnoul, Kandal Province, Cambodia

Khmer Language: Counting and Amounts the Cambodian Way..

I’ve been amiss writing posts about learning the Khmer language. Truth is, I haven’t progressed that much but I can now (though I’m hardly an expert yet) get a ride on a motodup, bargain in wet markets..

I’ve been trying hard to learn some basic Khmer so I could get around and I decided to share this to everyone. So learn with me Aside from the basic greetings and form of addresses (see my previous post – Basic Khmer Language for the Traveler) , I believe its a must for any expat living here in Cambodia to learn about the numbers, amounts and their counting system. Why?

• Majority of the streets in Phnom Penh are in numbers. So if you want to be more mobile or you want to easily learn your way around, then first learn the numbers. Check out Canby Publications map and you’ll get what I mean.
• Yes, there are plenty of supermarkets now where prices of goods are tagged in dollars and you don’t need to haggle but all markets and some restaurants quote their prices in Khmer. I’m sure you don’t want to miss the opportunity to haggle and score bargains.

** Note that these are just approximate ‘English’ translations so we can get the closest sounds to Khmer words. These are less than perfect so to improve pronunciation and to get ourselves easily understood, its best to listen well to Khmer native speakers and practice..

• 1  -   muuy
• 2  -   pii
• 3  -   bai
• 4  -   buhn
• 5  -   phrum
• 6  -   phrum muuy
• 7  -   phrum pii
• 8  -   phrum bai
• 9  -   phrum buhn
• 10 – dop
• 11 – dop muuy
• 15 – dop phrum
• 16 – dop phrum muuy
• 20 – m’pai
• 21 – mpai muuy
• 30 – saam-suhp
• 40 – sai-suhp
• 50 – haa-suhp
• 60 – hok-suhp
• 70 – jeut-suhp
• 80 – paet-suhp
• 90 – kau-suhp
• 100 – muuy roy (* hundreds use ‘roy‘)
• 101 – muuy roy muuy
• 200 – pii roy
• 1000 – muy puan (thousands use ‘puan‘)
• 1,000,000 – muuy lian (millions use ‘lian‘)

Tips:

• Cambodians count in increments of five. After you reach the number 5 (phrum), you just then add one to five (phrum muy for 6) and so on. When you reach 10 (dop) , the cycle begins again by adding one (dop muy for 11).
• You will also often encounter some Khmers who reverses the orders of the numbers especially for numbers between 10-20 and they usually insert dun between the numbers. Example, for 12 – instead of saying dop pii, they usually say pii dun dop.
• Khmers usually also use shortcuts like instead of saying ‘muuy roy‘ for 1,000 they would say ‘ma’puan‘..
• The trick is to listen well. If you simply don’t get it, you can ask them to speak slowly, say ‘Sohm, niyeay yeut yeut..’

Khmer Hammocks and Food

This happened a few weeks back.. It was a weekend and with Hi-ace having a day without anything scheduled, so he asked me where I want to go for the rest of the afternoon. That day, I didn’t want to eat in any fancy resto or even go malling, I simply wanted to have some wind and rest and I was thinking I wanted to eat grilled sweet corn.

Hi-ace then told me he’ll bring us over to one place that is uniquely Khmer. Hmm, that was enough to pique my interest. I know Khmers loves picnics so I was expecting somewhere in a park or a place with lots of mats, you sit down and order food..

After crossing the Japanese bridge, he drove on for more than 30 minutes and I was beginning to wonder where he was taking us. All I could see where fewer and fewer houses and big empty fields. Then we reached a place with houses built on top of stilts and towering over a huge pond filled with lotus plants..

I just love discovering out of the way places like this and when I saw these, I knew I was in for a treat.. Hi-ace told me this is where a lot of Khmers go for food and some R & R. So how’s the inside of those houses on stilts? Here..

You can choose which nook you want to stay in. There’s a mat and a low table in the middle and hammocks made of dried hyacinth. And I was so surprised that those hammocks was so comfy! It was no wonder I fell right into sleep after we had lunch. It’s hard to resist anyway, the food and breeze made me so sleepy..

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Me? Learning to Drive a Motorbike?

Last Sunday, after a sumptuous lunch at my mother-in-law’s house (again ), the family were having some lively discussion about motorbikes and driving around Phnom Penh. I was merely listening (ahem! pretending to listen I mean) though I hardly understood what were all talking about.

I’m really pretty good at this, hehe pretending to be part of their discussion, nodding my head occassionaly, haha but really I understand only bits and pieces. If I hear something interesting, I just give my husband, Hi-ace a nudge (sometimes a kick ) to translate for me. Other times, Chinkee would do the translation, though sometimes I highly doubt the accuracy of her translation, like last time we were watching TV, and the host said,

“Sohm, Aw Kohn. Sohm Chum Reap Lear.”

Chinkee’s translation: “Zero, Thank You. Zero Goodbye.”

Hubby says it simply means, ‘Thank you. Goodbye.’ Though they added ‘sohm’ which more or less means ‘please’ in English to make it more formal. Chinkee thinks that ‘sohm’ is the same as ‘sown’, the Khmer word for zero and she refuses to believe otherwise. Talk about being stubborn.

Anyway, where was I again? Oh last Sunday, while they were talking, Ma (my mother-in-law) asked if I was bored just being in the house most of the time and doing work online. She was thinking maybe I should learn how to ride a motorbike so I could go wherever I please whenever I feel bored. Which is what I usually do but I normally just flag a moto-dop (moto taxi) or a tuk-tuk in case I want to go somewhere and Hi-ace is not there to drive me around. I have no problem with this really, I even semi-mastered the art of bargaining with the drivers and telling them where I want to go.

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Video: Day 1 Cambodian Water Festival 2009

Here’s a video from KhmerLiveTV of Day 1 of Cambodian Water Festival 2009. Though curious about this occasion that is so much part of the Cambodian culture, I didn’t want to brave the crowds to watch the events so I was just content watching it on tv and those curious about the going ons this video would give you an idea about the Cambodian Water Festival.

Cambodian Pchum Ben Festival

I’ve been amiss updating my blogs since I’ve been quite busy with other web projects and coincidentally, the rest of Cambodia has been celebrating the Pchum Ben Festival. So it was holiday for sometime, with lots of going ons specially around the markets and of course, the pagodas. This festival has a solemn quality to it with most people going to pagodas for prayers.

Pchum Ben Festival is a religious festival, and is one of the most celebrated festivals among Khmers. For them, this time is for the Commemoration of the Spirits of the Dead. The festival usually falls on the first few days of September. On the Khmer calendar, the Pchum Ben Festival is on the 15th day of the waxing mmoon on the 10th month, also referred to as the Pheaktrobotr. And this festival lasts for 15 days.

The Pchum Ben Festival is so much a part of Cambodia culture whose daily lives are intertwined with Buddhist religion. This time is where Khmers pray for their departed loved ones and would visit the pagodas and give offerings for their dead loved ones whom they believe are trapped in the spirit world.

Khmer blogger Kim Heang has a good collection of Pchum Ben photos. Check out his blog and find really good photos as well as write ups about Cambodian culture and traditions.

Within the 15 days of the Pchum Ben Festival, Khmers bring offerings to the pagodas. Offerings usually consist of sticky rice balls and cakes wrapped in banana leaves. They also place incense, flowers as well as candles with these offerings.They also bring cooked rice as well as some more home-cooked Cambodian dishes which they share to the monks. The rice is the also divided and placed on several containers.

Trooping to pagodas for the offerings usually happens early in the morning as they also believe that most souls are afraid of sunrise and would wander around during dawn or early in the morning.

The festival is held for 15 days (:D bit long isn’t it??) and the first 14 days is called Kan Ben or holding the offering and last day is called the Phcum Ben or the Gathering for the Offering. The last day is specially important for the Khmers, and they would all go to the pagodas, usually make small boats from banana trunks, fill it up with rice cakes and let if float in the rivers to journey with their loved ones.

This festival is another fascinating insight to the Cambodia culture. My in-laws are Chinese-Cambodians and their rituals varies slightly from these but I was nonetheless fascinated by it. One difference I’ve noticed is that among Chinese they have a small altar at home built for their ancestors and that is where they offer food and prayers instead of going to a pagoda. However, they would pick one day out of the 15 day festival and also go to several pagodas for offerings the same way as Khmers.

We have also opted to visit pagodas that are farther out from the city. Most of these pagodas are really out of the way and the offerings and donations are much more needed by the monks..