Merry Christmas

It's boxing day and our high end resort stay is coming to an end (good thing too, the prices are a bit high). Tomorrow we'll go back to our $30/day rooms and party with the masses here in Sihanoukville. We had a very different kind of Christmas this year on this tropical resort and it's something I could get used to. Our days are filled with games in the pool (my personal favorite, a game we played for hours, is throwing Nick 10ft in the air where he is supposed to catch a ball thrown by Juliette before crashing into the water at, sometimes, awkward angles. Sadly, we have yet to complete a catch due all the variables involved like the accuracy of Juliette's throw, the accuracy of my throw or the ability of Nick not panicking in mid air and execute on the catch.), games in the ocean (if you can handle the surf and the salt) and regular outings. Our favorite outing so far, which we did on Christmas day, was a boat ride to a couple of coral reefs for snorkeling and a warm lunch at a especially calm but busy beach island. The kids loved the snorkeling and the shell hunting on the beach, feeding the ducks and I was able to find an especially large hermit crab that we plan on bringing home as a souvenir (the shell, not the crab of course). The day was topped off with a dinner at a sea-side restaurant where we watched the sun go down. Other activities during our stay included volleyball games for me (where the guests lost to the workers 2 games to 1), a visit to the spa for my wife and too much cartoon network for the kids (they can recite the 10 odd commercials word for word). That's all for now, next stop will be more beaches and pools on the coast, perhaps a tour of a National Park before a New Year's celebration with family at Phnom Penh and then on to Beijing.

Phnom Penh

We are back in the nation's capital (Cambodia's that is) for a short stay before taking off to Sihanoukville for a week at an ocean beach resort. The big city had stuff to offer that the small towns didn't. My wife and I really enjoyed visiting the Royal Palace, the shopping for souvenirs in the outdoor market, eating at high end restaurants (owned by more family members) and playing volleyball with the locals on their dirt court (good thing I didn't get my feet cleaned by the Dr. Fish foot massage in Siem Reap, I needed all the dead skin padding I could get). The kids liked the hotel breakfast, the tuc tuc rides in the insane Phnom Penh traffic, eating pizza at the mall (as well as ice cream cake for Sophie's fake birthday), playing in the arcade, painting figurines, roller blading (man some of those teenagers could skate) and sneaking into a high end hotel by the waterfront to use their pool. I was able to spend a bit more time with one of my wife's cousins who happened to be a doctor that spoke fluent French and his niece and nephew who spoke excellent English. I learned that teenagers are the same the world over and I told them about all the things we would do together if they visited us in Ottawa. I learned from the doctor that he was considered middle class and was far outranked in salary by politicians, members of the army, policemen and university professors (in that order). A few other major differences between our countries was the amount of garbage found all over Cambodia (he said it had improved immensely in the past couple of years), the lack of law enforcement for traffic violations and the complete and utter lack of laws that encouraged safety like motorcycle helmets, safety barriers etc... That's all for now, next stop is a beach paradise.

Kampong Thom

When I learned we were going to visit a successful family member who is a vice-governor of a province in Cambodia, I was wary of the type of person he would be considering it is the politicians of this country that have most of the power and wealth. What we encountered was a doting father and loving husband who treated us like family the moment we walked in the door. He did have a significant amount of power but during our stay with him, he used it in a very unassuming and kind way, like a grandfather to the people he governed. That being said, here is a list of a few of the craziest things that happened while we were staying with him:

1. During a visit to some ancient temples (500 years older than Angkor Watt), I told him I wanted to try driving a motorcycle so he asked a policeman (who's presence at our location was no coincidence) to let me use his. I proceeded to get lost in the jungle and, for a few minutes at least, was wanted by the police.

2. At a temple site, he showed us his flock of ostriches that were given to him by the ambassador of Vietnam. There were 10 of them and each and every one was twice my size. Needless to say we kept our distance.

3. I made the mistake of telling him that I was willing to eat anything. I'm sure you can already guess what happened next. He proceeded to feed me crickets, water bugs, cobra soup (skin on), cobra blood & bile mixed with whisky, Cayman, tarantula (that I bought for myself), deer, 2 types of turtles (with eggs still attached), bee larvae and my least favorite, tree worm/larvae found in the wood of a specific tree that were more than an inch long and half as thick. I only had trouble with the worm/larvae due to it's mushy texture and giant maggot like appearance. Nick tried quite a few of the dishes (including the giant larvae/worm) and like them all.

4. Even though we were in a small city, hours from the nearest airport he provided us with hospitality that a 5 star hotel would have had trouble competing with. We had comfortable air conditioned rooms for all the members of our party (13+). There was free WiFi, a flat panel TV in every room, an iPad, full use of his "cottage" by a river with boat and a floating dock where he kept fishes (7,000+) under the floor all manned by a team of servants. Every structure was modest in size but luxurious in appearance and the building materials were a stark contrast to the wood huts and aluminum shacks that surrounded us. Truth be told the most welcoming site to all of us was the western style toilets in every washroom :-)

It has been a fun couple of days and the kids have kept themselves busy fishing, playing with the iPad, watching the Cartoon Network (which plays mostly Tom and Jerry), going for boat rides, playing with baby Allison and, as usual, going for outings. Our most memorable outing during our stay was a trip to a temple located on the top of a hill. There are few hills in this part of Cambodia so the views are magnificent. The temple was an interesting maze of structures and rocks with few tourists and locals enjoying the cool Cambodian winter. The highlight of the outing were the monkeys that we fed with mini bananas. There was an entire troupe that we fed for almost an hour, some with pieces by hand while others were thrown whole ones that they peeled themselves. Between the monkeys and an impromptu soccer game with some locals the kids had a great time. Next stop, back to Phnom Peng.

Cambodia's Ancient Temples

As strange as it sounds, considering we're on a trip of a lifetime in an exotic land, we've adopted a bit of a routine. Our day starts with showers and breakfast. Breakfast has a basic selection of Chinese buffet along with a fresh omelet, plain conjee and, if we're lucky,Cambodian noodle soup. Then, on those days that we are doing day trips, we pile into the van and drive for at least an hour to our morning destination. Some of our most recent activities include a swim in a tropical waterfall, visiting the Angkor temples (which there are many) and an exciting elephant ride up a hill to watch the sunset perched on the top of an ancient temple. Out of our party of 13, only 2 of us have no Cambodian blood and therefore need to pay for admission to the Angkor temples. After our visits, we find some lunch and then go back to the hotel for a nap (parents only) and a swim in the pool. Then if we've got the energy, we do a late afternoon outing before a dinner and early evening bedtime. Our group is a hodgepodge of ages and nationalities with their own agendas during the outings. The older Cambodian members of the group (the oldest being over 80) just like being out and about with a few cute kids to spoil with toys and treats. They don't like doing anything too active and often wait for us at the entrance to each landmark since they have no interest in seeing things for the hundredth time. Then there is my sister-in-law, her husband and their 9-month old (Allison). They would like to see everything but the ball and chain aka Allison decides how much they can do and when they can do it. She's running their show and it's not uncommon for them to opt out of dinners or the occasional outing to let her sleep and eat in the comforts of the hotel. Sophie has decided that as the only 5-year old in the party she doesn't need to push herself as hard as the others. She often opts out of walks around the temples for the welcoming embrace of the older folk. And who can blame her really, visiting some moldy old temples has nothing over being doted on by 5 older family members that buy her anything she wants. That leaves the older two kids, Lo and myself. We are loving exploring the jungles, the ruins and everything else about our Cambodian outings. Our list of bumps and bruises to date include a 24hr case of food poisoning (me), almost falling between some steps to the jungle floor below (Nick), a bumped head on the side of the pool (Nick), a cut knee on the pool steps (Sophie) and a family case of bathroom issues. The only other story of note from the amazing temple visits (we'll have lots of pictures to show everyone) happened when Juliette and I got separated from anyone that could speak Cambodian and tried to exit and re-enter a temple site in the Angkor complex. Entry to the sites for foreigners without tickets is strictly enforced and I'm constantly challenged to show mine at every occasion. On this specific visit though the ticket checkers kept on asking for Juliette's ticket. I told them she was half Khmer (aka Cambodian) but this did not satisfy them. One asked to see her passport, another asked her to speak Khmer. In the end, I couldn't give them an answer that would satisfy them so we just walked passed their protests (with no consequences) even though they were ordering us to stop. That's all from the our Angkor Watt adventures, next stop is Kampong Thom where we are staying in an amazing house, stay tuned.

Cambodia, our home away from home

It's been 4 days since my last post but it feels more like 4 weeks. Everyday in Cambodia is filled with surprise and adventure (both good and bad) but one thing that remains constant is the welcoming feel we've received from the family we never knew we had. When I meet a, new to me relative, they tell me his or her Cambodian name and relation which I invariably forget before they finish their sentence. One day I'll get my wife to sit down and map them all out on a family tree but for now I just nod and smile. They always seem happy to see us, especially Sophie because at 5 she's still cute as a button, and they always give us delicious food to eat. That being said, our initial moments on Cambodian soil did not start well. As we greeted Kung Kung at the airport, our initial excitment quickly wore off as we realized we were waiting for a suitcase that would never arrive. That's right, the airline lost Juliette's suitcase. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the best case scenerio), losing Juliette's suitcase is a 3. She's big for a 10 year old but by Cambodian standards she's still adult size. Our initial impressions of Cambodia were from the back of a car/truck stuck in rush hour traffic for over an hour. The road was crawling with hundreds of bikes and mopeds with the odd car/truck thrown into the mix to make things just a little extra scary. Driving in this country is a sport that requires maximum attention at all times to ensure you don't hit a family of 4 on their way home from the market. That night we ate seafood in a nice restaurant. The food was great except the kids had issues taking their own heads off the shrimps and rock lobsters (which looked like giant shrimp). We were also introduced to the darker side of Cambodia when a squad of kids, 4-7 years old, came in to beg for money. They were kept in bare feet wore dirty old clothes and were trained to look sad. When they left, it was by moped, 4 to a seat along with their "guadian". I don't know if they were well treated or where the money they received went to but all I could think of were the child beggards in Slumdog millionaire. The next day we had an amazing breakfast which included Chinese, Cambodian and Western food before taking off in a air conditioned private van for the Northern Hub of Battambang. The highlight of the 5 hour treck was a visit to a country market. The market occupied the space of a football field and contained roughly 200 stalls attended by 1000 people. This wasn't even the biggest market in the province all 3 kids were intimidated by the sheer numbers of stange food (raw and cooked), people and goods for sale down the kilometers of dark and dirty alleys. We later arrived at another family house which was located behind their store that sold alters for homes. Again they fed us and found us a hotel for the night. The kids are getting used to the look and feel of the stores, markets and new family members. When they are in the car, they are either looking out the window or playing games/watching movies on the iTouch. We spent the next day at a family engagement party where two young people (I guess we were related to the girl) were celebrating their upcoming nuptuals with a big family banquet behind their modest house. Considering the length of the event, I was a bid worried by how long the kids would last but then we discovered a fenced off slab of concrete and a thriving rollerblade rental business next door to the party location. What a score! Juliette, Nick and I all tried it for a bit but Nick was the only one that lasted for hours in the heat and the imperfectly fitting over-used blades. Nick was exhausted from the exertion and I'm sure the exercise contributed to his short but scary as hell middle of the night asthma attack. The next day started off badly and quickly got much worse (at least for me). I was incredibly ill (we suspect it was palm juice) and I spent the entire day, weak as a baby, on a bed in an air conditioned room. The kids spent some of their time keeping me company either because they love me or because they loved the air conditioned room I was layed up in (it was the only one in the house). Luckily for everyone in our party, my illness, as bad as it felt, was a 24hr thing and I quickly rebouded for a boat ride on a man made lake filled with water lilies, a ride up a mountain to visit a temple with a killing hole used during the reign of terror by the Kmer Rouge, a trip to a Crocodile farm that contained over three hundred crocs in the space of a hotel swimming pool and trip to a cetury old temple site (a preview to the real deal at Angkor Wat). The kids are taking everything in stride and are being good sports about the boring walks and family visits but truth be told they are enjoying the hotel pool the most.

Spicy Food

When people find out that my wife is Cambodian, invariably they always ask me two questions: "Does she cook Cambodian food" and "Exactly what is Cambodian food?", to which I usually reply "Cambodia is located between Thailand and Vietnam so the food you would eat in a Thai or Vietnamese restaurants in Canada are similar, if not the same, as Cambodian food." Now that I'm in Thailand I can say that I have no Idea what authentic Cambodian food is like but Thai food is crazy spicy. I don't just mean "white people" spicy, I mean too hot for my wife spicy. This is the girl that puts 3 scotch bonnet peppers in a single bowl of soup! Well last night we went to a high end Thai restaurant probably had only ever served a a hand full of white people. The waitress was wearing a Heineken dress which would have been small on Sophie and we were overlooking an outdoor shopping mall that was bustling with families enjoying a national holiday by going out for dinner. I started things off with my own personal pitcher of Heineken (what can I say, I'm a sucker for advertising in the form of a short dress), and we had a few appetizer which were innocent enough in that they were deep fried with a bit of a sweet sauce. Sophie was passed out in her seat because her body was still on a non-Bangkok time zone (not sure which one) and the rest of us were peacefully munching away, oblivious of events to come. Then the main dishes started to come out. To be fair, we did order things from the "spicy" page of the menu and others that didn't have the word "spicy" in it. But when we started eating, it became very clear that not all the dishes we ordered were clearly marked with a "spicy" designator. The first dish, which was a version of the vermicelli salad we love so much, had so many red peppers that I was dying after one bite. Mom even started to die and that was supposed to be a bland dish! After that, everything became a blur, I was dying from hot peppers, excessive hiccups and excessive beer. Nick had been tricked into eating some hot food and was trying anything to get his mouth to stop burning. Juliette and mom were laughing at us and Sophie slept through the entire thing. When we were almost done, a final dish came. It was the spicy shrimp with lime juice. Mom wouldn't touch it because the shrimp was raw (I guess they figured between the hot peppers and the lime, no parasites could survive). I had 2 or three shrimps then threw in the towel. Shortly after we paid the bill of approx $60 CDN (quite high by Thai standards) and went to a gelato place before calling it quits. As painful as it was, it was a night to remember that the kids will talk about for days or until our next mini adventure.

Chinese Xenophobia vs Racially Mixed Kids

We are having lots of fun on our trip but it's hard work. The kids are having trouble getting used to the time zones as we fly through them at jet speed. A 12 hour stop at the Beijing airport was spent eating at restaurents, showering/"resting" in an hourly hotel-like room and playing the "who can kick their shoe further/higher" game. All of us were a bit of a circus attraction walking around in a culture that is 95% mono-ethnic chinese. An older lady reached out and touched Nick today which scared him a bit but the main attraction is Sophie. She's the cutest and the one that laughs the most. That being said, I received a ton of weird looks walking around the airport alone but I think it was mostly because I was in sandals and shorts in the middle of winter than the fact that I'm white. Sophie sleeps when she wants, where she wants and will be the last to get used to the time change. The Chinese people seem to lack people skills. More than once I got the impression from people that the fact we didn't speak Mandarin made us a burden to deal with (which we were). Sometimes we could overcome the xenophobia because we had racialy hybrid kids like when we had lunch in the Beijing airport and they seated us near the cooking area so that all 5+ servers could just stand and watch us when they weren't serving other people. I don't think I've ever had such a high level of service in my life. Now that we are in Bangkok, we are feeling much more welcome. The communication barriers are still there but there's a reason they call this the land of smiling faces as their body language is much more welcoming. Today we whent into town to see the Royal Grounds. It involved taking an airport shuttle, a high-speed sky train and a crazy cab. The grounds were filled with temples, statues, monuments and tons of people. The kids were exhausted and the high of waking up in a strange land wore off by the time we walked through the front gate. The heat, exaustion and crowds chased us from the palace after only a 2 dozen pictures of half of the grounds. We then took a walk to the river thinking a boat tour would be a good way to cool off. Unfortunately the walk felt more like a marathon and the waves looked a but too rocky for us. Instead we walked through alleyways and started buying food from street vendors. The fact that we could do this in the shade away from the crowds of tourists and it involved one of our favorite activities, eating, made it the highlight of the outing. The kids loved the grilled chicken on a stick and I got smiles for ordering the catfish. Other foods included noodle soups, papaya salad and freshly sliced mangoes. Finding a cab back to the train station was easy but finding a washroom was impossible. It was only thanks to a sympathetic 7-11 worker that we were able to get the access to a toilet the kids so deperately needed. Juliette is at the age now where she wants to prove she's better than everyone else by passing comments like "Why are people in California wearing winter clothes when it's not even cold?" or "This place smells bad" when visiting the street vendors of Bangkok. Hopefully if we can teach these kids anything during the trip is that there are all types of people and cultures in the world and just because we do things a certain way doesn't make us better than them. Right now we're just chilling at our hotel, getting used to the time zone and soaking in the AC. Tomorrow we're off to Cambodia to start our "rockstar" cross country tour to see the sites and more importantly see the family we never knew we had.

California Adventure

Today was day 3 of our vacation and it was the second day of Disney. The highlight of our day today was the Aladdin musical where we got to see a Broadway style show for the price of admission to the park. What a deal! We especially liked the jokes by Genie both the good and the bad (e.g. "You are now the Sultan. If your last name were pepper shaker, you'd be sultan pepper shaker). The fireworks and the world of colour show were a close second as our favorites. The worst thing that happened today was getting stuck on two rides and Nick almost peeing his pants waiting for the workers to let us off the ride. Well, that's all I have energy for now., bye.

Our family trip around the world

Day 1 of our trip was a day of travel. As most days of travel, this involved waiting in lines at airports for security, for baggage, for shuttle buses, for rental cars and more... Highlights of the day were waking up in the morning, dinner with family and finally crashing in our hotel room. Lowlights included the lines, the landing in LAX and the family sleeping in the hotel lobby for half an hour (problems with check due to a missplaced purse). The parents still haven't been able to agree on how much ipod touch play time the kids are allowed but I think that will all change when we get to Cambodia. Tomorrow is Disney :-)

Letter to Juliette

Juliette has been on a role lately. Her first big compliment was from her soccer coach after a soccer game when she was called "truly inspiring". Then this came in the mail from her teacher she had last year. Needless to say were are very proud and even though we will always think of our kids as being very special, it's nice to hear it confirmed from an independent source. Along with the letter came a small notebook.

Most Popular Color in the World

Nick and Sophie came to me the other day and asked me a random question. Nick asked me what the most popular color in the world was. When I responded that there wasn't a "most popular color", he turned to his sister and said "Ha, I told you so". I had no I idea that I was taking sides in an argument and quickly asked what was going on. Apparently Sophie had stated that pink was the most popular color in the world and, if you have ever seen her wardrobe, I'm not that surprised she came to this conclusion. I explained to her that among little girls, pink and purple seem to be the most popular colors but that as girls get older they tend to prefer other colors instead. Sophie then responded that "When I grow up, I'm always going to love pink". I guess we'll see what happens.

As it turns out blue seems to be the "most popular color" and the preference towards pink for young girls is being claimed by women's groups as being market driven and not biological. Based solely on observations, little girls seem to go through a "pink and purple" phase independent of their exposure to marketing, so I think it's biological, but that's just my opinion.

The Terminator

Juliette made the roster of a competitive soccer team. I couldn't be happier. Last year, she was one of the best players on a house league team and I thought that her chances of making a competitive team this year would be a very high. As it turns out, her style of play and her passive disposition towards aggressive girls resulted in a horrible try-out experience. The try-outs were mostly drills and skills. Juliette's strengths are size and power. So when I got the call that she made the team over 6 other girls, I was shocked. I guess they figure that you can't teach size. Needless to say both daughter and father were ecstatic. We both had high hopes for the season.

In her first game of the season Juliette came out nervous and passive. She didn't have the aggressiveness of her teammates which made he a bit of a liability. After the game, I asked her what was wrong and she explained that she didn't want to hurt anyone out there. So I told her that it's not up to the players to decide what is within the rules and what is illegal, that's the job of the ref. There are three things a ref can do in a game to tell a player that they are crossing the line; awarding a free kick, giving a yellow card or giving a red card. I explained that in all the years of soccer, Juliette hadn't ever received a card (yellow or red) or a free kick. She also told me that she didn't want to use anger to fuel her aggression so I asked her to try and kick the air out of the ball. I figured being aggressive towards an inanimate object could provide her with the excuse of trying hard without her worrying about the wellbeing of others. I also added that the reason she made this competitive team was for her size and strength and that if she continued to play passively, she would be a liability on the team. That last comment was a bit close to the line of "crazy soccer dad" but I stand behind the statement as being the truth even if it wasn't very politically correct.

Since the first game she's been playing great. She even came home one day after practice and told me that her coach had given her the nickname the Terminator. Then she asked me who the terminator was. I couldn't be prouder of her. She is starting to really own her part of the field and takes balls away from opponents and knocks them down all the while never receiving cards or even a free kick against her. I'm so happy about her success to date and I look forward to watching her improve even more as the season goes on. Who knows, maybe she will even score a goal this year.