Markets, margaritas and edible bugs

I was in desperate need of getting some household items so a couple of us headed to Psar Leu...

which is one of Siem Reap's biggest markets and mainly for locals not tourists, so its more household goods, fabric and food and not so much elephant pants and candles.

The elephant pants I mean.

"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know." - Groucho Marx

Not this - which you also get if you google 'elephant pants image'.

We'd been out for a few frozen margaritas the night before and the first isle was the fish stalls...

...this did not set a good tone. I was literally sweating margerita, so managed to get some pillows and get out of there. All the stuff is there its just sometimes the translation and bartering that's  way too much on a hangover!

"A real hangover is nothing to try out family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death." - Robert Benchley

That evening it was time for the second food and beverage club and we ended up at a place called Emporers of China - some of the food was reasonably priced and other things were crazy prices! We had some nice food that we split between us - the duck was especially nice and a good evening was had by all.

The week after I discovered on facebook that a friend from my childhood,his wife and family were in town, so we had a lovely dinner and a catch up - been about five years and one child since I saw them, and I got the chance to meet both their lovely children too. So strange to be so far away from home and in a second home with people who you have known for so long! They live in Hong Kong and also commented its strange to know where home really is these days as you end up with things pulling you to both places.

"Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey." - Tad Williams

That weekend we went to the opening of the Bug Cafe - a veritable bug feast!We tried ant spring rolls, tarantula, spinach and feta samosas, fried crickets, meal worms, silk worms and scorpions. I was quite confident in putting the things on my plate until it came to the eating, when I really lost my appetite. I decided as it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to go for it - the ant spring rolls were pretty normal, the tarantula samosas were fine apart from the toothpick like legs I found in there, the fried crickets were quite nice surprisingly and the scorpion was awfully bitter (read: do not eat scorpion). All in all the place is nice and we had good fun - I don't think I would eat here regularly, but it will be a great place to take tourists (they do non bug things too), However, I do hear that if we all ate more insects the world would sustain itself much better and no one need go hungry - so for that reason alone go order yourself a plate of crickets!

“If you'd lie with scorpions, you need a taste for poison.” ― Aleksandr Voinov

I had been struggling with a sore back on and off since I landed, work had been very good and swapped my hard wood chair for an office chair which was helping, but something was still unsettling it. Monday of that week was a long day and I was quite sore. I got up on Tuesday morning and could hardly walk with back spasms and from there I had to work from home for the rest of the week. On the farm one of the most reassuring things was that the boss was a doctor and well connected to other medics in the nearby city, also I had a regular chiropractor on hand who took great pleasure in hearing crunches as he clicked my back into place. However here the nearest chiropractor is a 7 hour bus ride away over a terrible road, or a flight - but at that point my passport was still in for its visa. I rested and worked and thankfully everything settled down. The week after I went into work, but rested from the cycling and found a vast improvement - sadly it seemed the bike was having quite an impact, so I took moto dops and tuktuks for a couple of weeks before finding my own moto to drive!

The next weekend I took some deep rest. I had already booked a stay at a spa hotel so I went and slept, had reflexology and slept some more for the whole weekend - it felt great. I also got to treat myself to something I really miss - sleeping in a cool room under a proper duvet!

The next week we had lots of visitors and meetings with people who had been involved in the organisation for years -  from our founder to people who had done my job in previous years, we got some great input and collaboration on our current projects.

The weekend saw a bit of partying - for one birthday and a staff outing hosted by our founder. Sunday saw a chill out at a local pool.

Workwise the following week all the starts seemed to be aligned with some nice complements and some good opportunities - from joining the committee that coordinates networking and speakers for Siem Reaps' NGOs to being asked to be an opening speaker for Cambodia's first fundraising conference.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas A. Edison

Around the same time I was lucky enough to find a small kitten in the market - despite vowing I wouldn't go looking for an animal here as they are a long term commitment and I don't know where the next few years will take me, however this little one was just there, homeless, malnourished and dirty - so the little princess came home with me and soon doubled into a kitten to keep her company too!

"A kitten is, in the animal world, what a rosebud is in the garden.” ― Robert Sowthey