drowned rat in siem rep

It was one of those exhilarating moments. The kind that makes you remember that this is what traveling is about. On Sunday, day 2 of my Siem Rep trip visiting temples like Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, I was caught in a downpour. Not just a regular downpour, but a full-on monsoon style soaking. I quickly became fully drenched as we rode on the back of motorbikes about 45 minutes away from Siem Rep on the way back from visiting Banteay Serey, a temple further out.

pre-rain



The rain came down in sheets hitting every part of my body, at times like a needle and at other times like small stones pummeling me. Then the wind kicked in, chilling my already soaked body. My pants stuck to my legs and my sneakers collected pools of water, but through it all, it was wonderful being a drowned rat.

Old people safari or to be PC, elderly people safari

I realized that I haven’t posted about what I’m doing this summer professionally. So I’m making amends and writing about my field work a couple of weeks ago – a topic I think, and hope you will find, is infinitely more interesting as it combines information about my job as well as my travel musings. And who won’t want to hear about my job?

As part of my work with the Documentation Center of Cambodia (“DC-Cam”), a NGO that initially started by collecting documents about the Democratic Kampuchea (DK), more popularly known as the Khmer Rouge (KR), I’m conducting interviews with former KR cadres. I’m doing this work because one of DC-Cam’s roles, as it has evolved, is to provide the UN-created hybrid tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers of Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) with legal research.

This summer, I’m working with DC-Cam’s Legal Response Team on a legal issue relevant to the prosecution of the Khmer Rouge. My research project is incredibly interesting thus far; I’m looking at a novel issue that I don’t believe has ever been prosecuted before in this context. If I can make an argument and the prosecutors agree, this issue might be prosecuted. This is what fascinates me about international human rights law – the fact that it is constantly developing and emerging as a way to bring about justice.

But back to the topic at hand, this past week found me out in the field, in the provinces specifically, not only interviewing former KR leaders but also seeing how most Cambodians live. While a great deal of the population lives in Phnom Penh, the capital city, the majority of Cambodians reside in the countryside.

The countryside is its own world. As you’re driving down the national highways, there are turnoffs on dirt roads. These dirt roads stretch for miles, surrounded on each side by endless rice paddies. Every once in a while, there is a house built on stilts, someone riding a tractor, or a water buffalo. The countryside is one of the most serene places I have traveled to in Cambodia. There is very little litter on the roads and generally, a quieter pace.


dirt roads


house on stilts


It is also quite rural. During one of the interviews, the former Khmer Rouge cadre we were interviewing was just returning from a day in the fields and his home did not have any electricity. I was doing my interview by flashlight until a neighbor brought by a car battery, which was used to generate electricity for the lights and also the TV.

Outside of looking at rice paddies, my field work included a lot of sitting in the SUV, asking for directions and looking for old people. The former because there are no markers to indicate which village or commune we are in; the latter because we had a list of people we wanted to interview, but many were either herding their cows or had passed away. As such, we were stuck asking older people if they had any exposure to the Khmer Rouge or served any role related to the research project.


rice paddies

During most of the interviews, we ended up being surrounded by people staring at us. Kids in particular were fascinated by us. It is always nice to be the center of attention. :)


kids

it's not unusual

but it really is b/c there is only one asian tom jones. as promised, this is the man, the myth, the legend: the asian tom jones. the photo was taken by erin. her caption, which i thought was appropriate, was: "I couldn't get a non-blurry photo, the man was shaking his hips too fast."

quick update

I'm going into the field, the provinces to be exact, this week to interview former Khmer Rouge cadres -- specifically, commune and village chiefs for my research project --- so I don't have time for a real post. (Run on sentence, anyone?)

When I come back, however, I have stories about the Asian Tom Jones; sitting in a hut; and trying not to get attacked by chickens, pigs, and dogs. Until then, have a great week and greetings from Cambodia!

Why I’m not Spiderman

It’s a good thing I bought travel insurance. Last week, on Monday night, technically Tuesday morning, I spent some quality time at the SOS International [Health] Clinic. The reason why? I thought I was Spiderman.

I arrived home on Monday night at about 11:30pm to find that our padlock had been locked on the inside of our gate instead of the outside. There was no way for me to access the padlock other than by getting someone who was already home to unlock it for me. I tried waking up the landlord. I pounded on his door a few times. I also tried in vain to call my roommate but to no avail. I was locked out of my apartment.

Instead of going to another friend’s house, I decided that I could climb the gate, the 7 feet high gate. I had seen my friend from work, my friend who is 6’2”, climb over the gate so I thought I could do the same. As most of you know, I’m a fairly independent person and I’m all about equal opportunity. Whatever a boy does, I can also do…most of the time. This time, I underestimated.

(This is where the gruesome part starts so if you’re sensitive about blood and all that good stuff, stop reading now.) With one leg over one side of the gate and the other leg on the other side, my leg got caught, impaled really, on the sharp metal spike on top of the gate to prevent burglars from breaking in. It’s such a relief to know that it’s effective.

So, there I was impaled on the gate, my leg bleeding profusely. And I did what every person in this type of situation does – I panicked and called for help, which ended up waking up the entire neighborhood. I had all my Cambodian neighbors running out to see what the commotion was about. At first they all thought I was a burglar. That impression was easily corrected as I writhed in pain on top of the gate. Then, with the assistance of my landlord and another neighbor, I was finally able to get my leg pulled off the spike. Of course, this entire exchange happened with my neighbors who speak very limited English.

Four stitches later, I am almost good as new and with a story and scar to boot! I get my stitches out tonight. I’m hoping that I don’t get an infection. I won’t go into the details about my visit to the clinic, but needless to say, I don’t recommend getting hurt in a developing country.

For those of you who have asked me why I haven’t posted recently, this is why…I know definitively that I’m not Spiderman.

the dark side

I’ve been seeing another side of Cambodia this past week – perhaps the more realistic side that I’ve only caught glimpses of so far. I read recently in an article (http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1055043&source=tabbox) that Cambodia will break your heart and I can see why.

From the Tuol Seng Genocide Museum to the pedophiles on the street and the people living in tents and dilapidated shacks by the side of the river to the little boys waiting for us to finish eating so they can quickly eat our leftovers before being yelled at by the restaurant workers, I’m seeing this other side of Cambodia and it makes my heart break. Sure, we can do things on a micro level and give a little bit of food or money here and there, but what about the long term? There are hundreds of NGOs here, but yet little progress seems to be made (though I can’t really say this definitively b/c this is first trip to Cambodia so I haven’t seen the progress being made or already made – I have no reference point). But what I can say definitively is that Cambodia faces many problems.

The poverty and the other problems that Cambodia faces today makes me question whether a tribunal will really be helpful to the average person here. Others have raised similar questions-- http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-06-12-voa47.cfm. A tribunal ends the culture of impunity and perhaps gives closure to the people living here who lost a family member because of the Khmer Rouge, but in a country where people surveyed do not really care about a tribunal, what is its use? Is it just an exercise in futility to serve the international community’s need for justice? Will it serve any benefit to the people here?

TGFB*

I don’t think I’d ever utter these words…but thank goodness for the Backstreet Boys. If I thought Korean karaoke music videos were bad, I really didn’t know what I was in for with Khmer (Cambodian) music and karaoke videos. The Backstreet Boys were a welcome respite from the high pitched, emo, and very loud Khmer music blasting on the bus as I rode through the south of Cambodia on my way to Sihanoukville this past weekend.

Along the way, I was greeted by emaciated cows, such that the cows’ ribs were visibly protruding, and kids in school uniforms walking home from school on a Saturday afternoon. Traditional Cambodian houses built on wooden stilts in an attempt, I think, to keep out the water during the rainy season bordered the one-lane highway. During the dry season, the bottoms of the houses seemed to be used for a variety of purposes – to dry laundry, to sit on a hammock, to store cars or motos, and most importantly, to shoot the shit with other people. I also saw a minivan crammed, no bursting actually, with people. There were at least four people in the front seat, not including the driver, and six people in every row in the main part of the vehicle. Plus there were people sitting on top of the van itself. There must have been at least five people plus packages on top of the van. I think they were as equally interested in staring at those of us on the bus as we were with them.

The changing scenery along the way was also quite impressive. Cambodia is a beautiful country with lush green mountains, trees, and rice fields. And the beach isn’t too shabby either if you can ignore the copious litter and vendors. The beach we went to, Serendipity Beach, is not like any beach I’ve been to before, but from what I’ve been told, typical of the beaches in Asia. What made the beach different for me were the shacks set up behind the beach and the plethora of vendors on the beach who offered a variety of services and wares from threading (taking a thread to get rid of unwanted hair), pedicures, and $5 massages to bracelets and Pringles. (Yes, I took advantage of the hour-long $5 massage right on my beach chair.) One of the best things about these vendors, who balanced the foods they offered on their head, was the variety of food and the fact that they cooked it right in front of you. We tried grilled squid and “lobster,” but were also offered fruit and spring rolls. Probably one of the worst things about the vendors was their persistence. They really wouldn’t go away, but I don’t blame them either. Realistically, they need to make a living. Unfortunately a great number of the vendors were little kids who, after some time harassing us to buy their products, really just wanted to talk to us. There were also a few amputees and blind people trying to make a living by begging.

grilled squid on the beach

woman balancing platter of lobsters on her head. no hands! i was impressed.

Serendipity Beach is filled with Khmer tourists on the weekend who come down for the sea and sand as well. Unlike the rest of us in our bikinis and speedos (there’s always a guy in a Speedo), the Khmers swim fully clothed. Serendipity also has a number of resorts and guesthouses. The one we stayed in, Same Same But Different, was quite shabby but right on the beach. The lock on the outside of the door was a padlock; the inside a rusted lock that didn’t quite lock completely. At one point in the night I woke up to discover the door wide open. And the guesthouse staff liked to hang out outside our room because our curtains didn’t completely close either. Quality five-star lodging for sure.

*In my debt of gratitude to the Backstreet Boys, this post is entitled “Thank goodness for the Backstreet Boys.”

apartment hunting

Over the past few days, I’ve been looking at apartments. I like my guesthouse. It’s clean, has AC and cable TV, and even someone to do my laundry and iron for me (I could get used to this), but I’ve been told I can get more for my money if I get an apartment. And I want to save money so I can travel. (In fact, I went to the beach this weekend. Yah beaches!)

Let me just start by saying that trying to find a place here is nothing like apartment hunting in NYC. Sure, there are brokers. But their business styles are a bit different, if you can even call it that. First, the brokers take you around on the back of their motos. Second, they just start driving around with no real idea of what places are available. As they drive, they’ll see a sign advertising a place and ask the guard, if there is one, if we can see it. The guard or someone who is responsible for the keys will show us the apartment. Other times, if there is no guard, there’s a number posted for the owner and the broker calls the owner.

So far, I haven’t found anything I really like yet. I’m picky, I know. The places that are nice, meaning places I want to live and with no indication of roach or other unwelcome pet infestation, are too expensive or too far outside of the central part of the city. The ones that are reasonably priced are too far out or not very safe in terms of bldg security, meaning no security guard or gate. The hunt continues. Of course, with only 8 weeks left, I’m not sure how many people will want to rent to me.

And rental time length is not my only barrier to finding an apt. An older landlady was reluctant to rent to me because of my Chinese ethnicity. She was afraid of the Pol Pot connection to China. Yet another one of the residual scars of the Khmer Rhouge regime. Interestingly enough, however, the owners of my guesthouse speak Chinese. I can practice my Chinese in addition to learning Khmer. I can say a few things now in Khmer!

sunset in phnom penh

I took this picture on my first night in Cambodia. It's from the balcony of my guesthouse at sunset.

the eagerly anticipated first post about cambodia

Arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday afternoon. All I could see from the plane were sand-colored roads, houses with red clay roofs, and occasional patches of green. I’m slowly adjusting to the city and the heat. It is hot! I think the average has been 110 the last few days. It cools down in the evening when the clouds roll in, though I have yet to experience a real storm during what is officially the rainy season. Luckily, my work day starts at 7:30am. Did I just write that? Yes, I did and here’s why I don’t mind getting up so early…by 8am the temperature goes up 20 degrees. I’m not exaggerating. And yes, I just wrote a whole paragraph about the weather.

Phnom Penh is definitely a unique city. They call it the Wild West. I’m beginning to learn why…

Traffic

There are absolutely no stop lights in certain parts of the city, especially near my office and guesthouse. On my first day of work, I walked from my guesthouse to the office and had to cross one major intersection during morning rush hour. I tried waiting for a while to see if there would be an opening to cross. There wasn’t. So, I stepped into the street and starting walking, hoping that I wouldn’t get hit by a car, motorbike, or bike. At the same time, of course, five police officers on the other side of the street were watching me stand on the sidewalk for two minutes trying to cross. They might have been laughing at me.

Another aspect of Phnom Penh’s traffic decidedly different from the U.S. is the plethora of motorbikes (“motos”). They are used as the main form of transportation along with cars and tuk tuks. It is amazing how many people fit on the back of a moto. I’m talking about entire families. Even though I thought I wasn’t going to, I got on a moto for the first time ever…and I loved it. Not only is it efficient, but it is fantastic late at night. And by late at night, I mean 9-11pm, when the city is dead. It’s a great way to see the city with the breeze blowing through your hair – instant air conditioning. Now that I’ve been on a moto a couple of times, I feel more confident about not falling off; I don’t even death grip the driver’s shoulder anymore!

Expat Scene

Happy hour seems to be a staple of the expat scene. I went out with a couple of people from work to experience the phnomenon (intentional spelling mistake) for myself. Apparently there are 3 categories of expats who frequent Cambodia: 1) NGO, 2) sexpat, and 3) restaurant/bar owners. I’m sure these don’t require a definition. Then there is another distinction between the expats and backpackers. Can you keep all of this straight? J

The first place we went for drinks was the Foreign Correspondent’s Club or rather, the FCC as it referred to here. According to the Lonely Planet, otherwise known as my bible, the FCC is a must. It’s hugely popular with the expats – I think categories 1 and 2 specifically. There’s a reason the FCC is so popular. It has a fantastic deck overlooking the river, if you can get over the poverty. Without sounding too trite, it’s hard to ignore the beggars, especially the little kids playing in the mud waiting with their families for the tourists to spill out onto the sidewalks. Or the little kids who come into the bars and restaurants where the expats frequent to ask you to buy a rose, kids that is that usually work for an adult or sometimes even a pimp. You can’t ignore it – the poverty, the income disparity, yet you have to and I can’t help but think that there is something else we (meaning the expats) can do. What that is, however, I’m not sure…

After drinks at the FCC, we headed to Lake, a backpacker haven. Some backpackers apparently don’t ever leave Lake. Lake is a series of guesthouses clustered throughout several alleys, some with a deck right on the…lake. Huge surprise, right? The Lake is also the home of the happy pizza. You’ll have to look that one up for yourself. But you’ll be happy to know that I didn’t partake in the happy pizza. That would totally contradict my good girl image.

Bugs

Without complaining too much, although I am kind of complaining by saying this, I am getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. I have 8 bites on my right shoulder. My right shoulder! Counting the number of bites on my legs would be fruitless. Fortunately I have invested in travel insurance so if I need to be evacuated for some mosquito-infection, I am good to go. I have started slathering insect repellant on my body every morning, which helps…that is, if the deet doesn’t kill me first. I saw my first cockroaches and ants as well. Not to mention a huge rat. Good times, no? But I didn’t scream and for that, I’m quite proud of myself.

taipei in pictures

view from nanjing st. subway station

national palace museum

motorcycles in danshui

dragons outside temple in danshui

fish outside temple in danshui

vew from danshui pre-storm

shilin night market- fried oysters & eggs

taipei 101 - tallest bldg in the world

mall outside taipei 101

On cabbages, museums, and mullets

I’ve wanted to visit the National Palace Museum in Taipei since my freshman year of college when my Asian Art History professor talked about museums featuring renowned Chinese art. Given its extensive collection, I had assumed that the most popular art would be the scrolls, bronzes from prehistoric times, or even the pottery. I was wrong, so incredibly wrong. The piece of art that everyone flocked around was. . .a bok choy cabbage made of jadeite. A cabbage that with a bug on top, no less. This was the one piece of art in the entire museum where people were pushing others, jockeying shall we say, for an opportunity to stare through the glass at the cabbage, so they could behold the wonder of the jade cabbage. I'm not exaggerating. Here is the cabbage

On the subject of visiting museums, I would not recommend the National Palace Museum on National Museum Day. Being frugal must be a universal trait, not just one associated with cheap grad students and truth be told, I didn't even know it was Museum Day when I went. I have never seen so many people in one museum. I kept looking around for the emergency exits because there were some serious fire code violations going on. In addition to the hordes of adults, there were tons of kids on school field trips. I even had one as a personal shadow. I think I was the first Chinese-American person this little girl had ever seen because she could not get over the fact that I spoke English and started following me around the museum. I could get used to a little hero worship. :)

On Sunday, I walked around Ximendian, an area where “young people” go during their free time. I’ll leave it to you to determine if I still qualify as a young person. Ximendian is definitely where the hipsters hang out. And what is the most popular haircut for hipster teenage boys in Taipei, you might ask? Mullets. Yes, mullets are making a comeback. I so wish I had taken a picture.

on my way

arrived in taipei during morning rush hour. besieged by motorbikes and japanese-made cars with a few european ones thrown in for good measure. i almost forgot what it was like to be in asia, yet it all comes back. the multiple high rises in the same color. laundry hanging on balconies to dry. slowly acclimating to a different environment. my adventure begins.

2 down, 1 to go

My Friendster horoscope for today is rather appropriate and ironic considering that I was checking Friendster in my valiant procrastination efforts. (By the way, am I the only one who still uses Friendster?) So, back to the horoscope, even though I'm not a huge astrology person, but I will do anything to procrastinate, especially when it comes to my final-final exam. After that I'm off to Phnom Penh on Tuesday via 3 days in Taipei. Leaving in 5 days!

The horoscope, as promised:

"Stick to the plan in order to get everything done. Rely on your self-discipline.

Your innate perfectionism is going to be a valuable asset today. You've got a few unexpected challenges coming your way early on, and you'll need to be diligent about getting everything done properly. Strong self-discipline is crucial -- luckily, you've got tons of it right now. Later today you'll get some positive feedback that will give you a nice boost of energy. A lot of creativity is coming into your life soon."

Oh, Friendster, if you only knew the truth...

starting a blog

instead of studying for finals, i've been searching for apartments in cambodia and reading blogs. i may have been inspired to start my own. only 17 days until i leave.