Wondering I: My heart is burning

Before I left for Cambodia on the 11^th I had some time to kill in Bangkok. Did a lot of baking, as in me moving as little as possible in my room with the fan on full blast praying for a thunderstorm. One day I had to just go shopping at MBK mainly for the enjoyment of being able to walk around in air conditioning. And I got a large bottle of shampoo when I meant to get conditioner. I didn't realize it until I poured it into my hand in the shower. "Why is this conditioner so watery.....awww mann!!" And now everywhere I go they only sell small bottles of conditioner! Its ridiculous! If you don't understand why this was such a big deal. My hair MUST have conditioner. I often use it without even using shampoo because it dries my hair out too much. Speaking of hair, all the Cambodians I've met are AMAZED with my hair. Which is funny because I used to want long straight Asian hair most of my life.

On the 9^th went to an art show opening for a watercolor class that Fritz friend was in. I found it QUITE amusing. First of all they had little boxed snack boxes for everyone and we were given a magazine with pictures of all the paintings and who had done them. Then we waited for quite a while until finally some guy who was I guess the guest of honor came into the room and sat down. Then we watched a movie with all the pictures that were in the magazine. All the people that were in the class were so excited about it. I think it was to see them selves on TV. Finally after that was over (which seemed like forever) a couple speeches were made and the guest of honor handed out certificates to each of the people that had completed the course. Then he gave a speech that everyone talked over then he did a painting which also took forever. Then finally after he was done with that and some more was said the ribbon was cut and we got to see the actual paintings. I’d say the whole thing took about 4 or 5 hours. Never been to an art opening that was such a big deal, and it was for only a two month class. I admired there enthusiasm about it all though.

Watching the photo album DVD

The painting Mr. Important did ( I guess he was in politics). I think it had something to do with the lady just elected... prime minister?

The toothbrush and broom store.

On the 10^th Fritz directed me to the weekend market. Seriously worst place ever if you are a shopper like me who can just browse for hours with no particular goal of what to buy. It was HUGE. Aisle upon aisle of shops, I was lost for the majority of the time more or less. Everything from food, knick-knacks, plants, clothes (new, vintage and western (like cowboy western)) and my favorite/worst part of the market the pet section. Puppies, kittens, hedgehogs, every kind of rodent including SQUIRLLS. Most of the pet shops had “NO PHOTO” signs everywhere and I tried to get pictures of the squirrel apartment complex (just a bunch of 8”x8” to 10”x10” cages stacked on top of each other) with squirrels of all ages, but it was to difficult to sneak my camera out without someone seeing me and yelling “hey NO PHOTO”. The lady who ran the stack of was strapping a little knitted hat to one of the squirrels. GAH! Despite the guilt I wanted a squirrel. So I bought a sweater for Bastian instead… along with many other things for myself because it was all so dang cheep! Got two new pairs of shorts for about $6.50! It was a dangerous place to go. Fritz said it is one of the best places to get illegal exotic pets if you know the right people. I had left that morning at 9:30am and didn’t get back to the house until 4pm.

Monday I just anxiously waited for my flight at 3:30 to Phnom Penh. Last time it had taken more then an hour to get through customs so I left earlier and of course there was hardly a line at all so I had two hours to kill at the airport. I got an ice cream and went around smelling perfumes and testing the most expensive beauty products. I left Thailand smelling great and lookin' fly. This all was reversed once I got to Phnom Penh because the traffic was really bad and it took about 40min in a tuk tuk breathing wonderful fumes to get to the Mad Monkey hostel.

The first day here I bought a bike so I can get around town easy without always having to pay someone. Rode around and didn’t know exactly where I was but knew where I was headed eventually after a few back and fourths found my way back to the hostel. Got the low down of what Steve wanted for the mural, “something that gets people to think and is positive.” I found out that he is a very big nerd and quite interested in metaphysics/quantum physics. There are other artists involved also but they haven’t started yet and I also haven’t met them. Just yesterday I finally settled on an idea. It has to do with the Cheshire cat and the golden mean/sacred geometry. I won’t give more detail then that. Today the challenge is to find the supplies I need at the market. There is no such thing as an art supply store here. Had my first real case of bad heartburn from a delicious Cambodian style spicy baguette and pâté yesterday with my local friend Kok (I mentioned him in the last blog when I was in Cambodia). I have to find some Tums. I just had a latte, it was a bad choice.