To live like a King...

I have run out of fingers and toes while counting how many times we have driven past the Royal Palace. So after eight months we figured we should see what all the talk was about. After all, it might be nice to know what the attractions are like in our own city. The current residence of the king is off limits but many other building are available for public viewing.

Open Air Dance Hall

As an American I have seen many things that were seemingly contradictory. In a visit to the home of the king in a third world country I figured that I would see the stark contrast between the classes. Oddly enough that was not first thing that caught my attention. As we walked in the public gate we saw many signs that addressed the issue of modesty. No shorts above the knees and no tank-tops. Rene was wearing a tank top so we had to buy a T-shirt for her. Thirty seconds and two dollars later she was properly attired.

It looks like some one else needs to buy a T-shirt!

If you are interested in South-East Asian art, architecture, customs and history you might be very interested to visit. I found it to be interesting. Since there is a guided and self guided tour it is easy to go at whatever pace suites you.

This mural of the "Reamker" epic is 604 meters long


Ceremonial clothing

I was surprised by how creative the grounds were. Many buildings were pieces of art from roof to interior, with no shortage of gold paint. (Yellow represents Buddhism, white represents Brahmanism.) Some interiors of the buildings were off limits for cameras and video. All in all we had a good time but Caleb couldn't have cared less. If he was able to talk he would have told us all the walking and stairs were troublesome, but he was a good sport. He was very patient and seemed in good spirits through the whole thing. I think we spent two hours roaming around.

Hansens in front of the Throne Hall

For the price of $6.25 per person (not including travel expenses) you to can experience the life of a king... But only from 7:30-11am and 2:30-5pm.

Context Matters

I'm just saying... I don't think people in the states would have named their clothing store this.

Going Bananas

The longer we are here the more it becomes home. One of the things that I have not encountered before coming to Cambodia is “Jake jchee-in”. Translated it means Banana Fried. It starts with a Banana that they flatten, then place it into a batter that includes sesame seeds, then fry it in cooking oil. It is quite yummy. Even everyone in the house agrees that it is a good treat. I can’t think of many things that I can get 13 people to agree is tasty. They are also very inexpensive at 12.5 cents each. An all round good find. I hear they make them in other places in the world also.

Thanksgiving ...or not?

For some reason the guys here have done Thanksgiving in the past. While I can appreciate the overall theme, it is as far from the Khmer culture as it gets. We celabrated it again this year just to maintain some sort of consistency with all the changes we have made here.
From the start it was not what you would have in the US. Weather was warm not crisp or cold, no pictures of turkeys or Pilgrims anywhere, none of my relatives came (not that I expected them to fly out), we ate at a restaurant and no football. The food was very SE Asian. No turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry, Stuffing, Yams or traditional main course or side dishes. It was a bit disorienting.
The one thing that was comforting was the pies. The girls house went all out and made pumpkin and apple pies. They even made lemon bars. The boys house contributed ice cream and we had a proper American Thanksgiving desert. It was very nice.