First day of sunshine

Sticking to the stereotype - Scones and Tea

Dad's podding broad beans at the counter, the roasted lamb is about to come out of the oven - I can smell the roasted rosemary and garlic as the particles disperse into all corners of the conservatory. The roasted tatties are sizzling away, the parsnips are getting crispier and the plates are warming up in the Aga (a big metal device that warms the entire house, can be used for cooking, heating clothes, whatEVER you can think of) perfect for a little cottage in the middle of the country.

I've been coming down here for 18 years, our family cottage. I look out at the estuary now, it's high tide at the moment and the light is dimming, the aura of the sun can just be seen above the clumps of trees that line the estuary and the bend of the trees that wind off to Salcombe (a nearby seaside town) is bathed in a pinky/ orange light. It's beautiful. I've spent years standing here with crabbing lines waiting for them to grab onto the chunks of streaky bacon on the end of the line. A tedious activity that does elicit great happiness and pride when it results in a bucket full of scrambling crabs. The activity that my brother is engaged in as I type. I would froloc in the squelching mud, thinking of an old childhood favourite 'We're going on a bearhunt' by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. I'd look for Samphire (a delicious sea grass), crabs, swans eggs (that belonged to our lovely 2 swans.. well not 'our' but the ones that have resided infront of our cottage for as long as I can remember) and squelch into it until I got to the point of keeling over, pulling my wellies out with one hand and balancing on the stepping stones with the other.

Crabbing at dusk

We'd take trips to the local pub for some great cider and yummy pork scratchings, we'd kayak down the estuary, take boat trips, hikes along fabulous cliffs, swims in ice cold waters and gorge on the fabulous sweets sold by our local sweetshop (all the oldies you can think of - flying saucers, 1p cola bottles, shoelaces, sherbert lemons, bon bons, gobstoppers. The list would go on forever). Classic fudge, scones, clotted cream and jam, turkish delight, fish and chips, Kedgeree (look it up - an interesting dish of smoked haddock, rice, egg and curry powder.. labelled english but stolen from our time of colonization in India), drinking cream tea's and the likes. Ah i love it all

So back to the beginning. It's been raining for 94 days straight in England - that's not even a lie, it's literally biblicle. On the radio today i listened to the presenter talking about the multiple cases of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) a depression due to cold rainy weather, usually at winter but due to the miserably weather it's now happening in Summer. Great considering the Olympics is fast approaching. But today, my first day of proper holidays at our beautiful family cottage in Devon, the sun came out, blue skies ALL day, no clouds or streamlines, glittering blue waters, a light breeze and beautiful food. Chorizo, hummus, organic lettuce and cheddar cheese sandwiches with doritoes. Pork and apple pasties (made with spelt flower!! Amazing considering mum and I can't eat wheat .. how nutrition has taken off), donuts, chilli chocolate, apple cider and lots of water.

Summer

A deep brown glow has set in and we lie in the lull of the 9 O'clock energy.. 11ensies will come later with a glass of red wine and some chocolate digestives. I'm finally appreciating being home. A break from running between tables serving plates of Spanish tapas to ungrateful (and grateful) customers, keeping my fingers crossed for a good tip that'll see me through to the next day (considering most of my wage gets spent on my oyster car.. the payment method for London's public transport). My tummy's rumbling and in a slightly stoned state everyone's stirring, ready to sit down to a delicious Lamb roast and drink great wine - oh don't you just love summer?  A fantastic first day of sunshine.

Recipe of the day: Fresh Scones and Home-made strawberry jam (serve hot with butter, clotted cream and builders tea)

Scones: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/scones_1285

Home-made jam: http://australianfood.about.com/od/breakfast/r/StrawberryJam.htm

Back to life, back to reality

Home.. but not really.
London has always been the place in which our family and friends reside.. our annual pilgrimage back to the familiar... running past the playround that I grew up in made me smile, seeing little ones playing in the spot where 12 years ago I sat, selling my 'sand-cakes' and 'sand-muffins'... anything to do with food basically. A little girl laughed and i looked to the left, another wave of nostalgia as I remember my babysitter and mum teaching me to swing - "Legs out and lean back, now forward and legs back!" ... I used to get so scared when I went too high, thinking the swing would either get caught in the trees or get wrapped around the top pole. Of course that never happened. Swinging that high gave you that rush that kids feed off of. The adrenaline of running through a field of flowers when you're 6 years old, or swinging super high, or jumping off the intensely 'high' house in the sandpit.. It's funny that as you get older you still crave the rush, something that jolts you out of every day reality into something exciting... some go for runs, some have sex, some take drugs ... it develops, not necessarily in a good way but we're always craving the same thing - change and excitement.

Coming back has jolted me back to some sort of reality, a different reality. First it was the cold, actually when we landed it was beautiful sunshine, apparently the first anyone had seen in weeks, the fact that it was out when we landed was a good sign (touch wood). But as the night took over the cold seeped in and the jumpers came out of one of my four suitcases containing 18 years of my life. Then the rain came down and I fully realized we were back in England. The thing is, it's not really rain. It's more grey, miserable drizzle. Like when you're on the loo and still have to pee but not really so you just kind of sit there and wait. That's what the weather in London is like, everyone sitting and waiting for sunshine, but nothing really happens. You do get a few patches mind you - and when those patches of sunshine are out the parks fill with bikini's and trunks, beautiful girls in and boys soaking up as much Vitamin D as they can before the clouds budge in again.

So the cold, the rain, and then the money. Having come straight from Malaysia, and Cambodia - where cheap as chips isn't just a saying, it's a way of life... I am consistently making the habitual mistake of converting everything into various Asian currencies. I'm slowly realizing that to live here, you have to suck it up. Transport for one, yes it's a great public transport system, but no, that does not mean it's cheap. Getting a taxi across KL (from one end of the city to the other) would cost you 6 - 10 pounds MAXIMUM. And that's a lot of money. Here? I went through 10 pounds casually in a day on my oyster card, just getting to and from a job interview via public transport, all of which was in the same area of London. So there's transport, and then there's food that's very expensive but I must say is absolutely delicious. The highlight of my wonder around Portabello Rd. the other day was definitely eating the delicious Moroccan chicken tagine with apricot and cous cous.. It is possible to find cheap food here, but compared to a 20p meal of roti cennai (If you've never had it, you are missing out on a whole side of life.. delicious roti with a thick curry sauce), now the indian takeaway last night cost us about 40 pounds for 4 people. Ok i'll stop bitching about the price of everything and suck it up.

To afford it all i've had to take on a few jobs... some of which i'm still on the fence about - waitressing at a Tapas bar, catering for a great food company, possibly handing out milkshakes and coffee at a cafe, waitressing at a Vietnamese cafe in hamstead and then there's the possibility of being a social carer and 'wiping old people's bottoms' as my father so gracefully described it. After about a week i reckon the storm will calm and a bit of stability will take over (well I hope), but wondering from house to house with bits and bobs falling out everywhere, is a bit of a pain.. but one that i'm trying to accept and embrace.. still.


On the upside, it is lovely to see friends and family, watching kids playing in the park and being able to go on runs without the humidity consuming your ability to move. Fresh lavender growing outside people's houses to pick off and just breathe in as you walk down an empty street, going to sleep without the AC under a big white duvet - and feeling independent again. Yoga every day is bringing slight stability into my life, and I'm attempting to run every morning and trying not to be put off my the cold.. Right now I'm sitting here at 8:00 with the sun still up (yes it's sunny!!) still feeling full after our roast pork and apple lunch, craving a cuddle from a certain someone that feels further away than ever. Lets see how this week treats me :) I think a cuppa tea is in order.

Recipe of the day: Toad in the hole

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/toad-in-the-hole

Up in the air

At the moment i'm sitting on a plane on our way back to London. Over the last 18 years we've done this trip annually, and a range of emotions has always been present. Over the last few years the excitement has decreased significantly. I remember buzzing in my seat as we pulled in to heathrow airport, 'civilization' being the word that came to mind. I would gawp at the double decker buses, when we walked into corner shops the choices of sweets and crisps baffled me, supermarkets were just overwhelming. That sensation has lessened, especially considering our residence in Kuala Lumpur, a highly developed city, much moreso than Colombo, Sri Lanka, the city that i spent the largest portion of my life in. 2 years ago i was wearing my red hoodie, given to me by my ex-boyfriend Victor. He was moving away to Singapore and I was heartbroken. We'd had an emotional farewell with lots of tears. To my great surprise my friend Simon was sat next to me on the long-hall KLM flight to London via. Amsterdam where we'd both go our seperate ways. I repressed the tears, but the sniffles were on-going due to my streaming cold. Simon was a champ, normality, routine and time are really the three biggest things that ease a heart break, and chocolate of course. Last year I'd said goodbye to one of my best friends Rylie who was returning to America. I don't know if I've had a year when I haven't lost someone or had to say goodbye to someone. But as the saying goes, better to have gained and lost than to have never gained at all.

A bit of B&W

I just watched 'Never Let Me Go', the film ended with the sleeve of my shirt completely soaked due to my endless sobbing. As much as I appreciate a great love story or great acting for that matter, when you've just said goodbye to someone you do love, it's like adding salt an lemon to a wound. Every song, every movie, everything reminds you of the person you've just left behind. You go from cuddling them one minute, feeling their body heat, arms wrapped around you tight, no sense of fear of insecurity... to being in a different country, surrounded by clouds, journeying to the other side of the world where the closest thing you can get to them is a virtual world called the internet. I suppose I should be thankful that that exists in the first place.

Goodbye's are unnatural I think. Humans are meant to grow and change, but we've always had this natural sense of community instilled within us. We're meant to stick to the people you form connections with, because whether you're karmically connected or destined to meet, having those people in your life is what makes it worth living - excuse the cliché. Those people you've connected to must enrich your life in some way, whether they act as a pillar or a prop - the stage would remain bare without all the surrounding works.

Honeymoon phase

So humans got smart and started accessing larger portions of their brains la la la and technology was invented. Just like that which was predicted, large metal birds began flying around in the sky, and the ease of transport continued increasing. What was it that was just invented? An airplane that can get you from London to Sydney in 4 hours? It's crazy, but anyway, back to the point. We've manipulated our surroundings to facilitate our constantly changing requirements... but everything has it's price. Both literally and metaphorically - to keep up with this ever changing world, money's a neccesity, and the differences in wealth determine whether you can afford the luxury of seeing a loved one on the other side of the world or not. I suppose that's a great downfall to our fabulous international lives - we make those amazing connections and merge with new cultures and traditions, exploring whole new societies through our social groups alone. Yet when graduation rolls round, or a new contract or any such event, we all go our seperate ways and another line on a map can be drawn to add to the already existing tangled web of love and friendships.


My boyfriend thread is continously getting longer as this plane accelerates, and while I want to embrace the change, when you have something so great - why would you want to let it go?  We're about half way there, 7 hours to go and the food cart's rolling up, London's fast approaching and my heart-rate's speeding up - feigning a smile is going to have to do, time for a comedy I think.

Recipe of the day: Chocolate, Raspberry, Amaretto pie

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1937,152176-252205,00.html

Rounding up Cambodia

Piles of dried shrimp (Ha-gow in Cantonese)

Grilled chicken on skewers

Fresh King Coconuts

So from temples to tummy aches we spent the day resting in bodhi villa, i lay on the bed listening to Gilles peterson's podcast with the famous reggae DJ Roddigan, being lulled to sleep by the sounds of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley. I'd decided to go on a coconut fast but the hunger pangs kept coming, come evening i'd given up and ordered a delicious plate of fresh veg. hummous and crispy baguette (which i fairly shared with mum). For pudding we had hot banana's in sago and coconut milk - it soothed my tummy and after a lovely chat with one of the long-term bartenders we went to sleep soundly. Actually the chat was very interesting - he spoke of leaving his mother for 10 years at 15 years old to go and find work and a more satisfying (financially) lifestyle - his reason for not going back to his mum was he couldn't keep intouch as she doesn't have a phone, internet and is illiterate (no letters)... He knew whereabouts his house was but could never remember the address - so after 10 years of the dissapearance of one of her 5 sons (considered a small amount of kids for a local cambodian family), she was stunned into silence on his return. Influenced majorly by his boss (a very cool, chill Aus. who spends his day running the hippie guest house, swimming in the Mekong, and smoking spliffs) he's off to Australia to see what he can find there. I couldn't help thinking the road ahead of him involved a lot more rough edges than he could foresee but I sent positive vibes for him.

Fresh crabs in a basket

The natural light of the sun streamed through the open space lying infront of our bed above the river, and we woke - did our regular yoga routine, and had a scrumtious breakfast of muesli, yogurt and fruit on the dock with our feet dangling into the Mekong. The day before we'd gone on a little bike-ride through Kampot - it wasn't as quaint as we'd expected, but there were some beautiful touches that could be seen in the French quarter, the elaborate designes on the eaves of the buildings, the sweet french cafe's etc. It was a Friday, and a big night was planned at the Bodhi Villa due to the departure of their long-term bartender. We decided if we had to wake up the following day at 6am to get our bus to Phnom Penh, a little shut-eye would go a long way. So we packed up and waved goodbye to the 60's, rainforest style, hippie California guest house - those adjectives seem most suitable. We moved everything (again.) to Bokor mountain guest house in the heart of Kampot town - the room smelt a little and the view wasn't great but there was TV, wifi, AC, our OWN bathroom and soft beds so we had no complaints. However when the electricity chose to only burn out in our room - we got upgraded to the room opposite which smelt nice and had a nice view, so we were sorted! 

Kampot pepper and a weird tasting wormy sea creatue

The ladies waiting to bring in the Crab

A woman preping crabs

We took a day-trip with our sweet-faced tuk-tuk driver Bunty (like bounty the chocolate!) to Kep, a close sea-side village. We were planning on hopping on the ferry to Rabbit Island that was half an hour away but the sky looked ominous and we decided against it. Kep proved to be more interesting than we'd thought - it's a village that wasn't really looked after at all, the waves lap against the unnatural sand that was imported from Suhanouk-ville years and years ago to keep up appearances of 'a beach'. The 'grub' market as Bunty kept saying didn't sound too appealing but despite our protests he took us there. it turned out to be a crab market, the famous kampot crabs! We watched the strong women reel in the crab pots as everyone steamed around grabbing at the bubbling blue and red live crabs that were stacked ontop of each other. Metres away other crabs were being boiled, and behind them fresh kampot pepper was being sold. We bought bags of the delicious stuff. We decided we had to try the famous kampot pepper crab, so for lunch we tucked in - what i love about eating crab is how present you are forced to be with your food, sucking, cracking, digging - it's such a process for such little flesh but when a really nice piece is found it's  more than worth it (i discovered a really amazing piece of crab-leg meat is priceless!)

A chicken in a bag

We looked around at the 'old palace' and 'old buildings' that were all only 100 years old, just abandoned, ugly houses really which squatters had taken over. 

We dawdled around in the room, packing, checking our emails, the usual. Then we got a little peckish - our bellies were still bloated (I soon discovered bowel movements is one of the first conversation most travellers have as everyone seems to experience either constipation or the runs - neither being particularly pleasant.)

We went back to the guesthouse we were originally going to stay at, Rikitikitavi - and ordered yogurt, chicken wraps and a wonton dish. With fresh apple pie and vanilla ice cream for pud! The spliff before dinner just made the food sparkle and burst in my mouth.The plan to watch a movie slightly failed and we crashed out comfortably. 

Fresh Vs. Cooked crabs :o

The morning after our Kep adventure, which we truly loved despite the grey clouds (it brightened up at times), we boarded our 7am bus. The bus we'd chosen to take so early because it would take the 'fast route' ended up arriving just after 12. Atleast we stopped on the way! Munching on boiled eggs with kampot pepper, and a fresh king coconut, we had no complaints. Unfortunately the public toilets aren't as well-kept as Hong Kong, but a toilet's a toilet - and when you're sitting for 3 hours on a bus bursting to go, anything will suffice.

We arrive in Pnom Penh, dump our stuff at our rather clubby hotel 'Number 9' (the manager looked like a pimp in a suit coming to greet us, lights flashed all round and the bartender was pacing back and forth trying to make eye contact and seduce you into buying a 'buy one get one free cocktail!') and we stretched into our body glove (yoga time!) I love that yoga orientates you, it brings you back and calms you down amidst whatever chaos exists at the time.

Notorious Kampot pepper crab

We shared a little spliff by the tiny pool on the third floor, overlooking a busy Saturday in Phnom Penh, and headed off to 'quickly collect' our dresses from the beautiful French-Cambodian shop that had totally seduced us ,'Ambre' (definately reccomended!) Our vulnerability got the better of us and we ended up trying on multiple dresses and purchasing 4 more items (To be fair we had saved on transport and accomodation.)

Apple pie and ice cream!

Our girly day wouldn't be intact without a delicious lunch (of peppered tuna, goats cheese salad and ginger/ soya halibut) and a trip to the hair salon! I've been obsessed with having some sort of radical change but went slightly safer (but still shorter!) with a meek side fringe. I had it straightened so combing through my seemingly thin, soft hair was all I did for the next few hours - allowing vanity to get the better of me. We returned to our room, got ready, and headed out to dinner with a yogi-friend of mums, Anna. When she turned up, all i saw was legs and blonde hair, a beautiful tall, blonde Russian woman who had amazingly had a child 6 months ago (you would never tell) pulled up in her big kundalini white four wheel drive. We felt suitable in our new dresses with our hair swishing back and forth. We were being taken to 'China house', i assumed this would mean plastic chairs and chopsticks but it was a very flashy two-floored resteraunt with beautiful modern art and dim orangy lighting. The women at the restaurant were all dressed to dine, long beautiful dresses and elegant hair pieces, we felt under-dressed! We were greeted with a shot of fresh gazpacho - followed by a salad, lamb skewers, lentil and avocado salad and for dessert, apple tempura with vanilla walnut ice cream! AH. They give you a taste of their rich dark hazlenut chocolate to top it all off. The wine slipped down, my temperature rose and the conversation lifted - it was a fabulous night. Sealed with a spliff, mum and I fell into deep sleep in our comfy beds (despite the room smelling like perming solution) for our last night in Phnom Penh.

Recipe of the day: Kampot black pepper crab

http://thehungrycyclist.com/kampot-pepper-crab-cambodia/

Cambodia: Day 10 & 11

Sangria's

As i'm not really writing this in chronological order my days are getting a little foggy - i guess that happens when you're constantly on the move. The only think that is differentiating the days from the weekends is when  my boyfriend's at work and when he's out partying (which determines our skype times). So yesterday (Day 9) we arose early, as our hut has no doors or windows we were hanging with the elements, wind, rain, sand - we were like one happy family. The sunrise was directly in my line of view from where I slept so it greeted me as soon as it was up - meaning we woke up naturally early most mornings at the beach. It was great though, gave you so much more time to do more with your day! We began with a lovely yoga set that's been customized by my mother (as she's a yoga teacher) and is based on my numerology - what i need to work on, my karmic numbers etc etc. I love the physical side of yoga aswell as the spiritual so this kind of kicks you up the ass and allows you to get intouch with yourself too.

View from our hippy hut

After yoga we had our regular breakfast at the amazing (but expensive) guesthouse a few metres down the beach. It's funny that at night whenever we walk back we find ourselves walking briskly, humming the protection mantra and clinging whatever valuables we had to us. At dark when everything merges together into one colour and anything could pop out of anywhere, it's slightly haunting - yet in the blaring 10:00am sunlight, a simple strip of land with a few half-constructed houses lie along the beach - harmful as ever.
Some may call us cheap but I call us clever, we'd lounge on their gorgeous white sunbeds and use their soft towels, eating their fabulous food (and respectfully paying the price with a generous tip) until we were ready to slope back to our cheap but quaint beach hut nearby.

For dinner on the 9th and 10th nights we decided to stay at our place - though the service is incredibly slow, it was more of a family-run establishment, the food tasted fresh and home cooked - both nights we ordered the fresh fish Khmer curry with rice and a side of fried vegetables. We loved the food (that was the same price!) down the beach, but being able to crawl into bed after taking a few steps was so worth it.

Breakfast by the river

Yesterday at lunch i experiences a slight knock out. I ordered fish with rice and babaganoush to start (this was for mum and i to share i hope you realize). The babaganoush appeared like clockwork and then a fresh creamy tomato soup with a crispy baguette. It wasn't my order and I don't know how 'fish' became 'tomato soup' but I was pleasantly surprised and munched it up rather fast. We'd ordered a red wine, soda water and sprite to make sangria's. I tell you, after a joint, a bowl of hot soup, and a sangria in the sun, your eyes begin playing tricks on you. Mum was talking to me - about something spiritual and enlightened i'm sure, but my mind was stuck at the top of a tree somewhere - I admitted defeat and slunk off to have a nap on a shaded sunbed.

Spot the obvious munch

The tomato soup that seemed such a perfect idea at the time - sat in my stomach until about 3am when I couldn't take it anymore, thankfully I wasn't too disoriented to gather my thoughts so i neatly chundered outside our little hut, with the wind blowing and the rain coming down it felt rather dramatic I must say. The rest of that night wasn't the best, and the stale taste of tomato soup still resonates with me. "I chundered everywhah".. on my gap year, is a saying I can now confidently repeat with a laugh, from the youtube clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU)

Presently, i'm sitting on a bed in Boddhi Villa, a totally hippie hangout with fumes of weed and a menu packed with munchy food - we're in Kampot, about 2 hours from Sahanoukville, overlooking the Mekong river. We arrived at the beach with the sun and left with the rain. The weather is still ominous but the mood is mellow and my weak body was given a slight kickstart by our daily yoga routine. Today I've decided to give my digestive system a break and have a day of king coconut (that didn't last when we sat down for my dinner king coconut but the amazing munchy menu tempted me)

I'm excited to be here, trying to enjoy and embrace the feeling of being on holiday without worrying too much about our return, packing up my room, saying goodbye to everyone - the future does not exist yet.. that's just something I have to meditate on.

Recipe of the day: Tomato soup

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2075/tomato-soup

Cambodia: Day 9

'HAVE ICE CREAM' haha

This morning we had a lovely, relaxed yoga set – part of the cria being to aid digestion, exactly what we needed with slight constipation from the constant travelling and the lack of routine in our diet. Part of the meditation involves singing for 11 minutes, it really lifts you, especially in the morning. ‘Universe’ means 1 song, so playing into the nature of the world and its surroundings we joined its harmony and said Buenas dias to another beautiful and sunny day.
Mum finished off her 31 minute meditation as i swam and lounged around, managing to successfully focus through another chapter of my book that’s not in the chapter of a man travelling through India, so the fact that I can relate to a lot of what he’s talking about makes the read slightly more gripping – though the constant dates and historical facts do cause my mind to wonder. We shared two great breakfasts, one of poached eggs and buttered toast, and the other of fresh fruits, muesli and yogurt. With a king coconut each for hydration and a press of coffee for a kick. I sorted out my whole music folder on my computer with the minimal access to wifi after breakfast. The guteral feeling of sorting out things on your computer was such a beautiful relief.

Is it literal?!

We returned back to basics (our hut), lathered up in sun-cream and lay in the sun with my afternoon joint. The high hit me and i got into the music zone again, in my mind i had a realization of ‘the lightbulb effect’ when you hear a song and realize how much you can connect to it, or how much you love it or understand the beats and why they’ve been mixed the way they have. Weed makes you notice detail I find, I watched the ants crawl across the segmented pine leaf, I remember noticing the segments looked similar to spiders legs. I watched my feet standing in the sand, they slowly disappeared as the sand sucked them up, and around me I watched the little clam-like sea creatures bubbling and elegantly drifting into the sand to be hidden from predators like me! Muahaha. No i’m joking – we decided to have a little walk, that turned into an hour and a half there and back, but it was worth it – we worked up an appetite and discovered another niche of the beach. It was slightly livelier, browned tourists lay on colourful beach beds, under great blue and pink umbrella’s.

Mmmm, breakfasts

Siesta's

We passed ‘Happy herb pizza’ with the promo sign reading ‘A JOINT $1.50’ – I didn’t know whether this was literal or not but it sure tempted me. The psychedelic mushroom village was nearby too, consisting of lots of round huts with cone shaped roofs imitating mushrooms. We sat and ate tuna and boiled egg salad with a fresh wedge of baguette. It filled the gap. After a quick dip in the sea we walked back, the sun lightly heating our backs. It was great to walk along such a wild stretch of beach with no development (yet). The day this place becomes industrialized and infested with tourists i thought, it will lose it's magic.. it's special charm that hasn't been ruined by the manipulation of money. We’re really enjoying the peace and the untouched-ness that this place offers. Right now we sit in our basic hut, with the blinds down and the wind blowing like crazy – I keep looking up and thinking our electric fan is switched on because the strength of the wind is turning the blades in an ‘on’ motion. The sun’s setting and the light is darkening – it’s sundowner time.



Recipe of the day: Salad Nicoise
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/saladenicoise_6572

Cambodia: Day 8

Settling into the beach vibe

Another sunrise another yawn another day. I’m munching on hummus and baguette, sipping a coconut, looking out at white sand. Earlier we kayaked to a nearby island, it took about 45 minutes and the way back, though we were going in the direction of the wind and with the rythm of the waves, was far harder as the undercurrent was silently dragging us backwards. I had a moment earlier after a joint, when i put in my earphones and St. Germain came on. The jazzy rythm hooked my whole body as my mind let go i truly heard the music. I wasn’t just listening and enjoying the tune. I was fully engulfed, i understood the love for music, true love. I watched the waves washing in and hummed along. The hum eventually got a bit too loud as I was jamming along to the rythm of the music. I quietened down on realization and picked up my book – attempting to read the first page was a struggle beyond anything, trying to remain focused on such intricate language... The second and third pages were surprisingly interesting and I got into the detail and movement of the book straight away. At one point a comedian was telling jokes about the racism shown towards Islam – the jokes all had a dark underlying spiritual meaning and they all related to passages from the Koran. My mind went wild understanding the meaning of each sentence i was reading. But slowly my it drifted and the music carried me away again. Must go, toast is calling – munch!

Mum and I chilling in our hammock 

The pina colada’s as our sun downers slipped down quickly, the rum burning our throats but the fresh pineapple cut the heat. Our Asian glow quickly appeared and mum and I burst into fits of giggles as our faces glowed in the evening light. Sunglasses were put on and the bill was paid. One thing about travelling that my mum and I both share, is our love for feeling fresh and clean despite staying at really basic places. Having a good shower wherever you are, with adequate materials (shampoo, conditioner and soap) and a nice dry towel afterwards just does it for me. Getting into clean dry clothes that are mine, that i know, that feel safe and comfortable and warm is just the perfect way to settle into a place and feel that much more comfortable.

Beautiful beachy days

We breathed a sigh and I lit a joint by expertly holding up the hammock with my big toe, creating a wind-proof tent allowing the size of the flame to rise and the paper at the end of the joint to crackle and burn. The moment i let the hammock go the wind rushed and the joint began burning fast – something that always makes me feel slightly on edge knowing i can’t let the wind have it all. Mum and I engaged in light conversation and made our way down the beach for soda water and a cup of tea. Taking traditions with you to a new place just allows you to enjoy your holiday by truly feeling a new place but adding your own little touches to make the experience ‘top notch’ as my uncle Al would say. The drinks we ordered sounded far more reliable than our drinks earlier – a ‘papaya juice’ arrived as a thick blended mixture of what tasted like a mix between carnation milk, coconut cream, ice cream, papaya and sugar – a sweet, thick milky shake – straying quite far from the original request but I couldn’t complain, you can only laugh really. I accidentally knocked half of mums glass off the edge of the sunlounger, proving quite a relief as she only had to sip half the drink and not absorb too much sugar, fat and cholesterol – eugh. Another lost in translation moment occurred at breakfast when I attempted, in clearest broken English, to have 2 eggs – one fried for my mother (i explained this playing charades, using the hand-motion of a frying pan) and the other boiled for me (i created a small egg with my hands and placed it in an egg-cup) when breakfast arrived the order was perfect, apart from the 2 fried eggs we’d received, one sunny side up (exactly what mum wanted) and the other was fried on both sides and covered in oil, not exactly what i’d pictured when thinking of a light clean breakfast rid of oil and grease – oh well, i ate it anyway.

Delish breakfast

The Cambodian way of life we'd adapted to seemed to have the same effect on my mother and I, our ravenous nature causing us to go crazy at the sight of such great menu choices. I remember watching a ted talks on choices and how fewer is actually more satisfying than more as your brain doesn’t stress and go wild at all the choices you can’t have. We both chose the munchiest foods on the menu, big bowls of Texan chilli with potato wedges and salad. For pudding we shared ice cream and fresh local fruit with a chocolate chip cookie. Mm we slept well that night, the red wine with our chilli knocked us out to perfection.


Recipe of the day: The perfect chocolate chip cookie
http://www.mydish.co.uk/recipe/chocolate-chip-cookies