Birthday Tea!
on Oly's Cambodia Blog (Cambodia), 12/Dec/2009 05:08, 34 days ago
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My second day in Thmar Pouk, December 8th, was my birthday.Looking around my bare-walled house I decided I needed birthday treat– I would make myself... a NICE CUP OF TEA! Shouldn’t be difficult?a)Tea bags. Hah! Bought them up from Phnom Penh.b)Milk. Get that already too– this is going to be easy!c)Water. Hmmm, stuff from the tap is already tea colour.d) Speak to landlord in stuttering k’mai - he disappears.e) Buy small bottle of water from stall opposite, but drink it down as thirsty.f) Landlord reappears with big bottle of water– we’re in business!g)Pan. The kitchen’s bare – a simple trip to the market?h) Where’s the market? More faltering khmer. I think I’m being told there’s one round the corneri) There is fruit and veg nearby, but I can’t seem to find the John Lewis kitchenware stall...j) Anywhere else? Ask again– ahh, the *new* market is what I need – just a couple of kilometres awayk) How to get there? Has to be a first outing on my‘new’ moto – please let it work / let there be enough petrol / let me find the way / let it be openl) How much? Having got there and found an aluminium pan. I guess the Le Creuset’s were all sold out. Is aluminium poisonous? Anyway, I’m desperate to buy – but how much is it? “200”. 200? Eventually work out this is Thai baat – simply multiply by 100 to get 20,000 Cambodian riel, divide by 4,000 to get $5, and tweak a little to give you 3 or 4 quid. Brain aches toomuch to haggle. Time to go home for tea!m)Gas. Grrrr. There’s a bottle but it’s empty.n) Another begging trip to landlord, who disappears again.o) Eventually someone appears with a new bottle (for a price).p)Mug. Yep that’s me – why didn’t I think of getting something to drink it out of?q) Never mind, just needs a little trip to the new market’s Selfridges bone china outlet stall.r) Return with a couple of slightly grubby half pint glasses, soon polished up.s) Result. It’s all come together at last: boil the clean water in the shiny pan using the new gas, pour over tea bag in new glass, add milk to taste, and I have a nice cup of birthdayt)Now, a slice of cake perhaps?
