Happy hour at The Seahorse always seems to be the place of blog writing- nothing beats it- im on a balcony above the street- Serendipity Road to be precise !!! From here you can sit above it all and watch the Sihanoukville world pass by- I can see the beautiful oceon from here, its just a 3 minute walk away. Its incredible. Happy hour here goes from 4pm until 9pm- Vodka and lemons are $1 and a pot of of draught is 50c. We ate here last night- have a few times, their curries are sooooo good. Last night tho we Finally Had Coca Cola ribs- Sihanoukville is a bit famous for these apparantly- Ohhhh Myyyyy Godddd !!!!!!!!!!! The are sooooooo good- Never had ribs like them before and im sure, unless we have them again here before we leave (we actually decided we will lol ) will never have ribs like this again. As soon as we had finished we were straight on the net looking for recipes !!! Something we will ATTEMPT when we get home. Oh and for a pile of delectable ribs, a barbequed potato, a hot baguette and a pile of really good coleslaw- $4................. I dont know how we are going to be able to justify the cost of eating at home let alone eating out when we return. We have made so many lovely friends here-met soo many Khmer people who have touched our hearts.
We had lunch today tho at another of our favorite little eating places- Moon Shack 2 - If you ever come here look out for this place- but the sign says 'Moon Sack 2' :( Its a lovely new sign which wld have cost a months or more earnings at least for the owner- and it had to have an error :( Moon Shack 2 has the biggest menu EVER- and the food is to die for- thats were we have our Seafood BBQ'S. Kevin had Stirfried Squid in Garlic and Fresh Green Pepper- Ohhh Myyyy........... The pepper was in small bunches thru the meal - FRESH not dried Green Peppercorns- Kampot is famous for its Pepper and I understand why. I had a Thai dish and kept pinching bunches of peppercorns of Kevs plate lol. our lovely friend who owns the restaurant os a lovely Khmer man, married with a little boy 3 and 1/2 - we have had many a converstion with him talking of home and here- he is a good man and a hard worker-in the words of the Khmer ppl- We wish much luck to him and His family....
Today we went to the big market Down Town- Its huge- full of fresh produce- we came here before but stayed away from the back stalls where the produce part is- it was a bit too upsetting for me last time- I saw a stall with some live chicken- they all looked so hot :( I thought of our chooks back home and how lucky even they were, then the realization-you choose one- they kill it and pluck it in front of you and yes that people is how you buy a fresh chicken at the market :(.....................
We were there on a mission- and NO it wasnt to buy a fresh chicken- we went up with Red- he waited outside for us. We found a little stall that sold childrens clothes and it was there that we bought a new out fit for each of Reds children- his brother inlaws lil boy and triplets... We had fun choosing the clothes- trying to make sure we got it right- but you know what, it would not have mattered to these children. We found another stall that sold soaps and deodorants- we bought Reds girls aged 14 and 15 an impulse each- Hey we all know what they are.....
Back out to Red with a bag full- Red kev says- please take us to your home again- Red looked a bit confused but off we went. When we arrived a few minutes later again we were greeted by the lovely family and Oh my god when the gifts of came out....................... I have NO words to describe that moment- I am sorry- I just dont............... Just as I dont have words to express the sadness we felt on Monday night when we sat on big papasans drinking a cocktail. Kev saw a little boy, maybe a little older than Jimmy on an old chair about 3 meters from us- he was tossing and turning in the chair. I went to our room and got a container of pringles , took them to him and asked if he was hungry- the biggest brown eyes look straight into mine and he nodded yes.....I gave him the pringles and bought him a can of lemonade, he told me he is 7 .................His clothes were so old and worn and dirty- he had a bag of cans he had collected- yeh we was supposed to be out on the street working but he was soooo tired and hungry-this place can just tears your heart out and shred it into a million pieces..Be safe in you travels little angel boy- be safe...... :'(
It wasnt just the children- It was the sheer Joy on the Mummys, Daddys and Grandmas faces, another thing etched in our memory and can never be erased. No body in the house knew what the impulse was- I could almost relate it to "the gods must be crazy" when they found the coke bottle and had no idea what it was or what the hell you do with it..... The boys, with the help and smiles from all put their new clothes on straight away- the triplets were asleep. The 2 older girls hung te washing and finished their chores before they cam down from their room wearing their new tops- smelling beautifull and BEAMING with pride. It was reallllly hard not to cry..........................................
Tomorrow I think we will go to 'the house of family'.... its an orphanage- a minute or so from Reds home- the children here have lost both parents to HIV/AIDS. Most of the children here are HIV positive-It will be a hard day...................................................
When you kiss your beautiful children Goodnight tonight hold them close and cuddle them tight and please please spare a thought for the Kids of Cambodia.
Love to all, Cheers from Sihanoukville Cambodia.xxxxxxx
