Wow the last couple of days have been fantastic. Our Khmer family lunch was fun, interesting and a great learning experience. Red was ready and waiting to take us to his home and meet his family at 10-45 am for the planned 11.30 am pick-up time :) . We were lazing at the front of the hotel on giant papasan chairs drinking coffee when he pulled up in his Moto Taxi, beaming saying "all ready now" - a race to our room-quik shower and on our way to down town Sihanoukville. We turned off the main road in the middle of town then off that onto a bumpy gravel road-it reminded me of the back alleys at my late grandparents house in east guildford-a turn or 2 left - a turn right and we arrived !!! Wow what a welcoming - the family were all out there waiting for us to arrive. We met Reds lovely wife who shook Kevs hand and hugged me warmly-his 2 daughter aged 15 and 14, their son who is 8 who we met once before and their 8 month old baby boy- and then there was the REST of the family who live there- mum in law- brother in law with his wife and 5 year son and their adorable 2 yr old triplet girls !!! There were more ppl here we me tbut by now it became far too confusing as to who was who lol, the awful part is we were greeted by and introduced to so much family we dont even remember ANY of their names :0 !!!!
Red showed us through his home- he was very proud in telling us he worked very hard and bought the small piece of land and had built te house himself-he has done a great job, it has 2 levels-up the top is a bedroom for Red and his wife, a room for the children, and a large area where mum in law sleeps- at this stage there is no glass in the many windows- the breeze is better than air con !!! Downstairs is a small kitchen 2 more bedrooms and a large room with a TV where the families all hang out togther.
Lunch was served almost immediately- we sat on a big bamboo table about 500cm off the ground- Red served us some food and then himself- we asked about why the rest of the family were not eating- Red told us that Khmer way is for guests to eat with the Man of the house and then the rest of the family eat what is left after we have finished !!!! Ohhhhh this was HARD thing to do-so so very different from home where eating together as family and or friends is enjoyed so much- I love the Aussie way and would love a Khmer family like Reds to try 'our way' God they would LOVE one of our family barbies or get togethers LOL.
Lunch was a baked fish-a steam boat with some vegies and chicken and wen I say chicken I mean the WHOLE chicken was in there bar the feathers I think- I was trying to spoon ONLY vegies on my plate and Red took the spoon smiling and said he'l do it for me - Ohhhhh my there was a huge internal chicken part staring at me alongside a small piece of chicken- I managed to eat the chicken and tactfully hide the offending intestine laughing at me under some rice !!! Kev , well, Kev ate his-he hates to offend- Kev is like my Bear Grylls who will give almost anything a go- lol I could see him almost gagging thru most of the meal.
Red ate like a man that has never eaten before and kept adding more and more fish and chicken to our plates-finally he stopped, we ate what we could and to be honest we were glad when it was over. A great experience tho-would not change any of it.
AS soon as the lunch mess was cleared Red and his lovely wife presented each of us with a "souvenir" Red hung a checkered raw silk scarf around Kevs neck and Reds wife hung a beautiful cream and gold spun silk one around mine- that was pretty emotional all round. We will treasure tose scarves forever and always remeber and think of this beautiful Khmer family who welcomed us into their home.
Kev spent some time talking to Red after lunch and me ?? well I couldnt resist those triplets-their daddy told me they had their best clothes on for us- We decided at that moment that before we leave here we will visit again with a new BEST dress for each of those angelic little cherubs, a nice shirt for each of the boys-a jumpsuit for Reds baby boy and a pretty top maybe for each of Reds teenage girls.
Reds boy for the girattends school all year where he also learns english, Red explained to Kev that this is only beacuse a Swedish couple pay for his education- the girls only attend a Khmer school for 6 months of the year because during the low season (now) he doesnt make enough money to pay the fees for the girls. Red said the girls learn a little english when at school but forget quickly when they are away from the learning environment. Sad.................................
It was all over in a cple hours , Red had to go back to work- Those Aussie Sailors have bought a bit of money into Sihanoukville which is good. So it was hugs all round.. Thankyou Red and your beautiful family for a lovely day. xxxxxxxx Oh and I forgot to say Red told Kev that our WHOLE family are very welcome to come and LIVE in his home here in Sihanoukville, and you know what- I recon he would make room :)
The rest of the day we spent recounting over and over every single moment we spent 'Khmer style'
Today was a quiet day- a moto taxi to Otres beach- ohhhhh my kind life-lazing on a beach chair with a grassed umbrella chatting to the lovely otres locals and beach ppl we met on earlier visits. The company was excellent and so was the cold cold beer and the food. Back to our hotel which is FULL of drunken aussie sailors- LOVE IT - 30 mins in the air con- showers and outa there up to the balcony at the lovely SEAHORSE- Kev... Kev... Hows the serenity :)
Bye for now,
Cheers from the Seahorse happy hour- 50c beers and $1 vodka and lemon- and whoa do they do a BIG measure of vodka. Be safe family and friends. Love and miss you all.x
