Back in Australia I am enrolled in university studies and short courses, working in a small remote Australian town with not a lot of news and not a lot of spare time. This blog will take a back seat for the next six months or so, but I will share some of my essays as … More Free Lunch Kid
Kung Future is a tiny NGO working in Phnom Penh off the smell of an oily rag, with landless Cham people who live on their boats at the conflux of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. This week Kung Future reported the death of a two year old boy who fell off the boat he … More Every Time I Go On A Plane
Near one of my work locations a 3 year old girl sits in grandad’s tuk tuk with him everyday for the six hours that grandma spends at work as a cleaner. It is a busy road and I have always joked that I think this is the road where I will die. Phnom Penh’s footpaths … More This Week’s First World Problem
~ quoted in Born to Love As an expat living in Phnom Penh it is perfectly easy to ignore the poverty that the people surrounding you are immersed in. Two nights ago I walked through a crowded Night Market making my way towards colleagues at a Sky Bar above the market. A detached bystander weaving … More An Epidemic The World Needs
Recently I discovered Birdy, an English folk musician with the most unique and dreamy voice. Assisted by Birdy, the dulcet harmonies of Ed Sheeran, a good book and good friends, I enjoyed a week off with neighbours from Australia at Siem Reap and Battambang. I must have listened to Birdy’s Not About Angels a thousand … More It’s Not About Angels
One of my favourite sanctuaries in Phnom Penh is a restaurant with a secluded garden terrace on a corner. I first came here in January 2014 with Mum and Ruth, attracted by the leafy entrance as we wandered past one evening. Today a noisy construction site on the opposite corner destroys the ambience somewhat. I … More Christmas Now and When
This week I was invited to a Cham wedding through an American connection I made when we took Paula to her surgery. Despite learning a lot about Cham people in recent years, they still seem foreign and exotic to my western eyes and last night’s wedding did nothing to expel this notion. Our arrival at … More An Arabian Night
I get off the tuk tuk and the limit of what I can say to Tuk Tuk Madame (TTM) translates into something like “See you next time. I don’t know. Me …. Telephone … You” (including a little sign language just to be on the safe side). He laughs and I laugh back. The best … More Touching My Heart
MUCH has been happening here and I will blog about some of it when I can find the time. Meanwhile this powerful and beautiful song is worth a share. Especially the message at the end of the video. World Humanitarian Day One day, one message, one goal. To inspire people all over the world To … More I Was Here
Some of every day in Phnom Penh is spent in a tuk tuk with my colleagues. A few regular drivers have become firm friends through shared amusement at each other’s little ways and our limited common language. My fellow expatriates and I are currently holding a photographic competition, each of us preparing to show our … More Notes From A Tuk Tuk
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