Cambodians resemble Filipinos a lot in terms of physical features and that is hardly surprising since were both South East Asians. I think the difference between the two is the way we clothe ourselves. The weather here is same as in the Philippines and it could get really hot but Khmers veer towards the conservative side, prefering long sleeved shirts and long pants while most Pinoys I know her prefer casual clothing as in shirts and shorts.

So when I am here in Phnom Penh I don’t really want to be stared at so I stay away from tank tops and short shorts and I go for short sleeved T-shirts and pedal shorts so I am usually mistaken for a Khmer as long as I don’t speak. I know a smattering of Khmer but still when I speak its with an accent and they can’t understand me.

My husband on the other hand, is  of Chinese descent but was born and raised here in Phnom Penh so he is often mistaken for a Chinese, Korean or a Japanese tourist.

The other day we went to Tuol Tom Poung Market and we found it both so funny that the sellers there keep calling me “Bong” which means elder sister or “ate” in Tagalog. When they see my husband they would say, “Monsieur, can we help you?”. And they would end up laughing when my husband would respond to them in fluent Khmer.

And those incidents happen not only in markets, when hubby is driving, he has been stopped by the police several times asking to check his license, believing him to be a foreigner.

In Angkor Wat, foreigners have to pay for a visitor pass (about $20) while Cambodian nationals and holders of K1 visa can go in for free. The last time we visited, they asked to check his visitor’s pass and they didn’t bother checking for mine thinking I was Khmer and he was the foreigner. The same thing happened when he went there with a Filipina friend.

We both find it so amusing and I guess I have to learn to speak the language so I could play the part really well.

Everything is different. The language, the sounds, the smell, the way people dress themselves, the food, even the very air is different. At times, I find it strange and I feel lost. Most times, I find it interesting and exotic.

Yes, my family is now in Phnom Penh and this will be our home now. After several years of post-graduate studies, Hi-ace has completed his doctorate studies and it’s a new start for all of us.

The last time I’ve been to Phnom Penh was four years ago and I can see a lot of changes. Public works has improved, there are more vehicles around and you encounter heavier traffic unlike before. There are a lot of things I love about this city but one thing I don’t appreciate is its horrendous traffic. For some reason, people here has utter disregard of traffic rules and regulations. We live very near the Russian/ Tuol Tompoung Market and near the intersection I have noticed the newly installed traffic light complete with timers. When I have nothing to do I like observing how motorists and pedestrians behave. A big number of them doesn’t even follow the traffic signals and prefer jamming the intersection. Traffic is simply one of the things you have to learn to adjust to here in Phnom Penh.

For sometime now I’ve been mulling over getting an online education. There are a lot of online universities around and another option is to enroll in an open university. There are several reasons why I’ve been seriously considering getting an online education.

• It is convenient and flexible. Getting online education from an accredited institution like Nouveau University or other online universities is a really a big help for a busy mom like me. I still want to be able to take care of my kid and my husband, manage my websites, and I would also like to have a day-time job when we are already in Phnom Penh. All of this activities requires me to be home and online education looks like the best option for a time-pressed person like me.

A couple of days back, I mentioned I was losing bandwidth fast and August still had a week to go. I’ve been mulling over adding bandwidth or changing to a new host. Then things happened and I had to deal with them first before I could attend to my website and hosting issues.

My father arrived from Bicol and I had to bring him to Camp Crame because he had to process something about his pension and retirement benefits. I am really sad that at his age (he’s almost 80) he still had to come a long way just to get the benefits owed to him. I have a lot to say about my dad and other police retirees pursuit to have their pensions adjusted and received so I’m reserving those thoughts for another post.

Chinks also decided to go on vacation in Bicol and I didn’t have the heart to refuse her asking to spend sometime with the grandparents since well soon be leaving for Phnom Penh. Not having my daughter around made me a bit depressed so I am so thankful for mobile phones and web cams.

Hi-ace is about to defend his dissertation tomorrow and the past few days has been a doubly hectic time for us. Being the “supportive, understading and  wife” that I am  I helped him out with countless revisions, proofreading, and printing I’ve already sworn, I won’t ever take up graduate studies just to avoid the pain of writing a thesis. After that I was so sleepy, weary and tired to the bones.

It was just last night I got the chance to check my sites and darn it! I can’t access my site and cpanel. I’ve exceed my bandwidth and my site has been in twilight zone since the 25th. That was a 6 day vacation and whew! I checked my traffic rankings   and the results were a bit depressing too..

I don’t want to dwell on it anymore. Priorities are priorities and as of this time, I will soon be able to fix the hosting and bandwidth concerns, will be able to drop on my fave Entrecard sites, and write some posts..I’ve also decided to updated my theme. I want this blog to have a new and uncluttered look just like this new wordpress blog I have modified.

I guess I could go to bed now and get some much needed zzzzzzz and I don’t have to worry now coz I could safely say now that Pinaywifespeaks is back from twilight zone!

Got this tag from Steeping Beauty..

The rules are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leave a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was in college majoring in Business Management, spending a lot of time with my friends checking out fast foods, we we’re so fixated on fast foods, we practically tried all fast foods in our place.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today? ( this is more of what did I do today..)

1. went for a 30-minute walk around our village
2. played with Chinks and cooked lunch
3. visited my dentist
4. got home and had a short nap with Chinks
5. worked on my blogger site and surfed the net, dropped entrecards

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Hershey’s Dark Chocolate, Pods Green Peas snack, McDonalds Cheeseburger, Chocolate Cake, Sally Fields Cookies (all kinds ;P)

4. Places I’ve lived:

Manila, Cavite, Albay, Phnom Penh

5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire:

• invest so I could live on the interest
• set a trust fund for my kid so she could start her own business when she’s 21
• buy a private jet (I’m dreaming, so let me be!)
• buy hubby the sports car of his dreams
• build a spa in my home – I’m crazy about spa’s!
• send my nephews and nieces to school
• put up a scholarship for kids in my neighborhood in Albay
• travel, travel and travel

6. People I want to know more about:

• many.. my fellow mom bloggers , my in-laws (they are really nice but because of the language barrier I can’t really get to know them that well, so I’m serious about learning my husband’s native language.

I’m tagging the following awesome bloggers because I’d really like to know more about them..

• Mira’s Random Thoughts
• Filipina Canada
• Memories by Jenn
• Liza
• Tess
• In Depth