Gong Xi Fa Cai!

So I don’t speak Mandarin…yet, but I believe that means “Wishing you will be prosperous” in the New Year. Chinese New Year is January 23rd, and we’re welcoming the year of the dragon.

The only time the Chinese zodiac had crossed my mind was in Chinese restaurants when the placemat would help you figure out what your sign was (1980, year of the monkey). It’s impossible to miss it here! I’d thought they went all out for Christmas, but apparently that was just a warm up.

Both religious and commericial temples are bedecked with red lanterns, and giant dragons swirl in the middle of the malls. We asked if there would be any big celebrations for the holiday, but most people (even Malay and Indian ones) go home to visit family. Since there are so many people traveling, we’re planning to stick around here. There are dragon and lion dances in Chinatown and in some of the malls, and apparently the God of Prosperity will be wandering around so we’re off to look for him.

Special menus are on offer at many restaurants, and there are some unique traditions found in Malaysia and Singapore like “yee sang”. It’s often described as a raw fish salad, but I think that’s oversimplifying it. It’s presented as several small heaps of shredded vegetables on a platter with a small dish of (usually) salmon sashimi on the side and several dishes of toppings: oil, plum sauce, crackers, and whatever else has inspired the chef. Once it is served, the waiter (or someone at the table) adds the ingredients on the side to the main platter, and then everyone joins in to toss the ingredients together while saying auspicious things in Chinese. The higher you toss, the higher your fortunes will grow in the new year, so you’re really supposed to go for it. Grant got to partake in this during a holiday lunch for the team he’s working with, and now I’m jealous so we’ll be seeking this out this weekend.

Actually, he may be a little jealous of me and my new endeavor. I’ve signed up for Mandarin lessons, and will be taking an intensive course starting on February 6th. It meets every weekday from 9 – 1 for a month, so I might be spending more time hearing and speaking (or trying to speak) Mandarin than English. Wish me luck – I’m really excited…and a little bit nervous!

 

Southern Cambodia

After touring all of those temples, Grant wanted a relaxing end to our vacation. We had searched for an island getaway in Cambodia, but since it is the high season everything we looked at was already booked. We decided to head to Sihanoukville for two days, and then to find peace and quiet in Kampot and Kep for the final two days.

Sihanoukville is a more modern town than the others we visited, having just been built in the 1960s. We had heard it was a popular stop on backpackers’ itineraries and could be a bit of a scene. After the 10 hour overnight bus ride to get there, we were pleased to find our hotel perched on top of the highest hill around, next to a temple. Peace and quiet! Unfortunately, we woke up the staff with our 6 am arrival but they graciously checked us into a bungalow right away. We slept off the bus ride for a couple of hours, and then were ready to hit the beach.

We have no pictures apart from the one above of Sihanoukville, but we had a great, very low-key time. I don’t doubt that if you’re looking for the party scene you could easily find it here, and there certainly are tons of guesthouses, bars and restaurants near the beaches. The beaches themselves were like powdered sugar, and we enjoyed just strolling down them. We spent most of our time at Ochheuteal Beach, which is one of the more popular ones. It’s lined with beachfront restaurants that set up lounge chairs and papasan chairs in the sand, and the purchase of a drink will buy you a whole lazy afternoon just steps from the water. Draft beer was super cheap, just fifty cents for a pint, and I was surprised at how laid back they were about coming out to take your order. No pressure here, we sat around for at least half an hour before anyone working for the bar came out.

There were plenty of local entrepreneurs passing by, most carrying fruit or grilled seafood on a tray on their heads, happy to squat down and prepare something fresh for you. We had green mango with chili/lime salt, and Cambodian lobster (looked like giant prawns) with a squeeze of lime. Yum! There were some kids selling pirated books and jewelry, and plenty of women asking if you wanted massages or mani/pedis on the beach, but a simple no was usually enough to get them to leave saying “Maybe later!”

On to Kampot, a sleepy little town located on a river and best known for producing pepper. We stayed in a “bungaroom” here, a tiny shack on stilts with just a bed, a mosquito net, and a fan. What more do you need? There really wasn’t much to do in Kampot itself, which was just fine by us. We did spend one day on a countryside tour, seeing limestone caves, salt fields, pepper plantations, and visiting the Crab Market at Kep, eating crab drenched in local green peppercorn sauce, and seeing the beach in Kep. What a day!

The caves were neat, but the highlight of that stop was our tour guide entourage. As the tuk-tuk slowed to a stop, it was surrounded by kids chattering at us in English. Five of them appointed themselves as our tour guides, and  they talked our ears off in perfect English as we walked through the fields (carefully marked as being de-mined). They were excited that I spoke more than just English, and so we chatted a little in French and spoke basic Spanish to each other too. It turns out that they learn English in school, but the only other languages they know they’ve learned from tourists, so they can say the same ten phrases in many languages. Then it was time for my Khmer lesson! Ok, now it’s your turn:

Hello = Sues dei

Goodbye = Leah sen heuy

Let’s go = Tuk tao

Thank you = Aw khun

Now you know as much as I do! They shepherded us up to a small booth, where we each paid a dollar, and then we followed them up 200 steps to the mouth of a cave. While they pointed out every rock formation that looked remotely like an animal, they delighted in playing jokes on us and using their favorite catchphrases: “I believe I can fly”, “Lovely jubblies”, “Same same but different”, and “You talkin’ to me? Bada bing bada boom!”  They took us into a dark shrine, pinched my leg in the dark, then hysterically warned me to watch out for ghosts.

There were a couple of exits from the cave: through a small, pitch-black hole, back down the stairs outside, or a literal middle ground, climbing down into another cave and winding around and through it. We went with the latter, and these mountain goat kids swarmed down over the rocks. They carefully pointed out each step to me with a flashlight, only to grab at our legs as we shifted our weight onto a new rock and then warn us to watch out for cobras. The final stretch was a surprise wade through an icy pond, and we ended up back at the ticket booth. We laughed a lot with those kids, and they bedecked me with flowers and made me practice my Khmer words all the way back to the tuk-tuk.

Kep was great fun too, and it was interesting to see how different the local beach experience is from the tourist show. The beach here was yellow and much coarser, and packed with locals. They were picnicking all along the beach, on the sidewalks, and on raised roofed platforms. These platforms were really popular, and everyone had at least four hammocks strung up to relax in and a small mountain of food in the middle. I think we should adopt this idea back in the US!

The last stop of the day was a pepper plantation, where our driver walked us through the fields and encouraged us to try everything we saw.

This is where I learned that Grant will eat anything that anyone hands to him; another driver walked up to him and handed him something and told him to take a bite of the top of it. He did, said “hmm, astringent”, and handed it to me to try. I asked what it was before I would eat it, and it turned out to be a cashew nut. I guess they grow with a soft fruit on top? I’m still not sure if that’s commonly eaten or if they just wanted to see if we’d eat it. I was looking this up while I was writing this post, and I found an article online saying that the reason cashews aren’t sold in their shell is that they are in the same family as poison ivy and poison sumac and there is an irritant in the shell oil. Well, we survived with no ill effects!

The fresh peppercorns were spicy in a floral way, and we bought big bags of black, white, and red peppercorns to take home in an effort to extend the memories of this trip as long as we can. I guess when they run out, I’ll have a good excuse to go back to Cambodia!