another night without power last night left me in a semi-insomniatic mood, i have, over the last few months, complained about my lack of good sleep too publically and soon realised that i sounded like a whining baby so abruptly stopped. a classic tale of the boy who cried wolf. as now i really am having trouble sleeping any complaints go without much sympathy, not that i was sleeping really well before but just that the last two nights have been my worst since being here. having said no sympathy steve said i can stay on their couch tonight, which is nice but it means im going to have to get up early to let sovath into the church...the other side of town, and yes...its my birthday tomorow which makes the whole thing just a bit more rubbish than normal. ive said it before and ill say it again but i really cant believe im going to be 20 tomorow. i remember the days of being in year 3 and looking up to the high school kids and thinking how old and cool they were only to realise when i got there the complete opposite was true. it is stranmge how time passes, im sure alot of people will say that the best years of their lives were their late teens, i not saying mine wernt but i havent lived long enough to be able to compare, all im saying is that i cant believe that tomorow i will no longer be a teenager, i can finally brush off the grumpy, lazy, 'cool' and self involved exterior that is a requirment of being in that age bracket...a new leash of life. i feel like simba roaring for the first time or slowing time and flying like Neo. classic.
so things here are going well, generally speaking, i havent got a lot of work on at the moment which has allowed me to finish off a few boopks and those horrible lingering tasks that were delegated to me last october but id been putting off hoping that everyone would forget and i would get away with not doing them. sadly my conscience wont allow such blatant disception depite it being ok with a whole bunch of much more serious moral infractions that have become part of my daily life. its funny how the soul works. i finished reading a book by philip yancey called 'dissapointment with god' whilst we were down at the beach this week. as the title suggests it wasnt the most positive personal account but was incredibly honest and full of those realities that make your heart jump a little. despite relating all too well to the 'skeptic' in the book i came away feeling very encouraged as yancey pleaded the case of 'job' and shared a little of his experience with his creator. i know i not overtly 'christian' in my blogs but sometimes i think it is such a part of who i am and the reason im here that it would be stupid not to discuss my spiritual frailties with any stranger who happens to fall upon this little corner of the inter web. i was touched and motivated after seeing 'KaKa' the AC.Milan stricker wearing a shirt saying 'i belong to jesus' after their champions league victory last week. i must admit i was cursing his talent as liverpool quickly lost their control of the game but couldnt help but admire te guy who is not only one of the best sprots men in the world but is so unashamed of what he believes that he will tell the world on international TV. it made me wonder if i would do the same when our position is swapped and i become the famous footballer i was born to be. i said when not if...
thank goodness i believe in a god of forgiveness, i wonder where id be if i didnt.
Ben.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
one for the ladies
well last night was sheer torment, as it turns out the electricity on my street has been out for a few days and there is something wrong with the line under ground. apparently they are fixing it now but who knows really. unfortunately i didnt know this last night and spent much time on my knees praying god to turn the power back on, sleeping without a fan is hell on earth and i barely got any shut eye last night at all. also because the street is only a dirt road and isnt concrete it floods prett badly. last week i returned home from the market duing a pretty heavy thunder storm and was obviously soaked to the bone, i arrived to see about half a dozen people, including sothy, out on the street btrying to unblock the drains becaue the entire road was under a foot of water. sothys house competely flooded and all the drains were wide open and their contence spread out on the higher ground. the next morning, goes without saying, was a pretty smelly one for the occupants of obekom village. indeed i had top hold me nose whilst opening the gate in the morning another bummer was it was a sunday so a load of people were coming. smelly.
its going to be nice and stress free i think not having to put up with monsoon flash flooding and electic blackouts. get this...they actually publish the dates and times of the city blackouts, they have to plan them and tell the people becaue they dont have enough gererators to power the whole city all the time, again unfortunately they only publish the times in the khmer paper so even if i wanted to find out i wouldnt be able to read them. despite reaching a reasonable level of spoken language i have only learnt to write two words in khmer, a little party trick...one for the ladies.
so things are changing and im getting more impatient about geting the next 10 days over with as stress free as possible and just enjoying my two weeks in New Zealand. which i am massively looking forward to now. middle earth awaits the return of the king.
King Ben.
its going to be nice and stress free i think not having to put up with monsoon flash flooding and electic blackouts. get this...they actually publish the dates and times of the city blackouts, they have to plan them and tell the people becaue they dont have enough gererators to power the whole city all the time, again unfortunately they only publish the times in the khmer paper so even if i wanted to find out i wouldnt be able to read them. despite reaching a reasonable level of spoken language i have only learnt to write two words in khmer, a little party trick...one for the ladies.
so things are changing and im getting more impatient about geting the next 10 days over with as stress free as possible and just enjoying my two weeks in New Zealand. which i am massively looking forward to now. middle earth awaits the return of the king.
King Ben.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
gurilla warfare
lost interest in blogging the last few days as we spent our time lying on sunbeds drinking milkshakes and listening to the waves crash a few feet away whilst the sun slowly ambles down beyond the horizon. jealous?
twas a good few days down in shianoukville relaxing, although the fist couple of days it rained pretty heavily and the best day was today when we left. never mind, me and jen spent most of yesterday chil;ling out on victory beach and finishing/starting various books of interest and discussing at length harrison fords many talents and deserved praises. long story. altogether it was a wel deserved break and was fully enjoyed. sadly i didnt take any pictures but jeni took a bnch so check her facebook in due course. it is also samuel smiths 11th birthday today so we stopped on the way home for icecream and they are panning some sort of party in the next few days, its all very secretive so i really dont know. the only other time theyve been so obviously secretive was when they were planning to throw a bucket of water my way after a particularly drillig day of home school way back in feburary which later caused an immense water fight involving gurilla warfare much similar to the viet cong, think about it now i got a little over excited by constantly quoting 'platoon' and running around the house with no shirt on and a knife between my teeth, twas awful fun though.
well its our (jeni and mines) birthdays on saturday and im looking forward to a flood of gifts through the post....
.... no im not that optimistic but it shold be a fun day wih an aftenoon at the sunway hoptel stuffing our faces with as much buffet as possible and no doubt a heavy dose of birthday spirit and loud toneless singing, cant wait. then a coupe of the girls from church invited us out for some khmer food in the evening which should be really nice. so its looking like its gonne be a petty good time afterall, i must confess i was feeling a little depressed thinking about the up coming departure and my birthday away from everyone and without much energy to celebate, but now after careful consideration ive decided to make an effort and get completely plastered. joke. but no doubt el vino will flow. happy days.
well off for some food....more flippin rice. ughhh
Ben.
twas a good few days down in shianoukville relaxing, although the fist couple of days it rained pretty heavily and the best day was today when we left. never mind, me and jen spent most of yesterday chil;ling out on victory beach and finishing/starting various books of interest and discussing at length harrison fords many talents and deserved praises. long story. altogether it was a wel deserved break and was fully enjoyed. sadly i didnt take any pictures but jeni took a bnch so check her facebook in due course. it is also samuel smiths 11th birthday today so we stopped on the way home for icecream and they are panning some sort of party in the next few days, its all very secretive so i really dont know. the only other time theyve been so obviously secretive was when they were planning to throw a bucket of water my way after a particularly drillig day of home school way back in feburary which later caused an immense water fight involving gurilla warfare much similar to the viet cong, think about it now i got a little over excited by constantly quoting 'platoon' and running around the house with no shirt on and a knife between my teeth, twas awful fun though.
well its our (jeni and mines) birthdays on saturday and im looking forward to a flood of gifts through the post....
.... no im not that optimistic but it shold be a fun day wih an aftenoon at the sunway hoptel stuffing our faces with as much buffet as possible and no doubt a heavy dose of birthday spirit and loud toneless singing, cant wait. then a coupe of the girls from church invited us out for some khmer food in the evening which should be really nice. so its looking like its gonne be a petty good time afterall, i must confess i was feeling a little depressed thinking about the up coming departure and my birthday away from everyone and without much energy to celebate, but now after careful consideration ive decided to make an effort and get completely plastered. joke. but no doubt el vino will flow. happy days.
well off for some food....more flippin rice. ughhh
Ben.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
an awkward process
just got an email from my brother titled 'leaving is mental'...indeed it is bro.
when you are a kid wherever you grow up its always the first place you want to leave. fact. ive found the older you get (not that im old) and the longer you spend away from that place the more it becomes the only place you want to be. except for me its not about a place but about the people. the only reason i want to be in that place is because that places is where those people are.
well it seems like the entire expat community is leaving cambodia in the next cuple of months. almost all the foreigners from our church are leaving for different lengths of time. and already a few people have left so we are all getting used to saying goodbye to people. as im sure most of you know this can be an awkward process if you dont know the person that well.
i went out for a drink with my friend isaac last night who i havent seen in about 2 months, it was patentially incredibly awkward but fortunately he brought a friend so we shared the responsibility of starting and holding converstion.
off to the beach on sunday, will be nice not to have anything to do but sit, read and drink beer on the sand for a few days.
Ben.
when you are a kid wherever you grow up its always the first place you want to leave. fact. ive found the older you get (not that im old) and the longer you spend away from that place the more it becomes the only place you want to be. except for me its not about a place but about the people. the only reason i want to be in that place is because that places is where those people are.
well it seems like the entire expat community is leaving cambodia in the next cuple of months. almost all the foreigners from our church are leaving for different lengths of time. and already a few people have left so we are all getting used to saying goodbye to people. as im sure most of you know this can be an awkward process if you dont know the person that well.
i went out for a drink with my friend isaac last night who i havent seen in about 2 months, it was patentially incredibly awkward but fortunately he brought a friend so we shared the responsibility of starting and holding converstion.
off to the beach on sunday, will be nice not to have anything to do but sit, read and drink beer on the sand for a few days.
Ben.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
anyone could be watching
well the countdown has officially begun. i booked my flights to New Zealand yesterday, which im looking forward to, and i played my last game of expat football in which i scored the winner via a header which is a first for me! i dont think ive ever scored a header before, what a way to sign out! so i have about 17 days before i leave phnom penh and a furthur 19 before i arrive in england...just over a month! it seems strange to be saying im going home, ive been told that i will experience culture shock going back into the west which i found to be true at christmas. it feels like all ive ever known has been these past nine months and everything i did before them have been forgotten, i feel like im going to have to learn how to live in civilisation again and actually work for money...shock horror!
its been an interesting end to my time here with a few annoying things happening like getting my phone pinched. by the way if anyone has an old phone they wouldnt mind parting with when i get back in july im going to need one! i bought an old nokia from the market for $18 which is pretty cheap, even by khmer standards, none the less Sovath rubbed it in saying he only paid $16...git. and sothy has demanded that i buy a web cam so we can talk over the internet, im not altogether convinced by these web cam thingys, they are very popular here but im a bit wary...anyone could be watching.
so things are starting to slow down for me nd ive already had a feedback meeting with steve and midge, which was strange in itself. i couldnt sleep last thinking about being home and being with everyone again, there is nothing else i want more right now...except maybe two weeks in New Zealand!
thats all for now hommies, ill see y'all soon.
Bonge
its been an interesting end to my time here with a few annoying things happening like getting my phone pinched. by the way if anyone has an old phone they wouldnt mind parting with when i get back in july im going to need one! i bought an old nokia from the market for $18 which is pretty cheap, even by khmer standards, none the less Sovath rubbed it in saying he only paid $16...git. and sothy has demanded that i buy a web cam so we can talk over the internet, im not altogether convinced by these web cam thingys, they are very popular here but im a bit wary...anyone could be watching.
so things are starting to slow down for me nd ive already had a feedback meeting with steve and midge, which was strange in itself. i couldnt sleep last thinking about being home and being with everyone again, there is nothing else i want more right now...except maybe two weeks in New Zealand!
thats all for now hommies, ill see y'all soon.
Bonge
Friday, May 18, 2007
the view
the view from angkor wat 
the view of angkor wat.
the entry gate to bayon.
the war museum.
chris checking out the silk at the silk farm.
out on our mamoth ride through the country. 
blown to pieces, a khmer rouge tank.
crumbling temple
ta prom
unbelievably the trees are growing out of the walls and off the sides. a pretty special place to visit.Wednesday, May 16, 2007
getting lost in the bush
well im back in the city with a very painful knee, after nearly 70k's worth of mountain biking and the fact that i slammed it on the floor during kids club.
my second day in siem reap was just as good as the first. i started by getting some breaky and finding a cheap old bike to rent then headed off through the flooded streets up to angkor. my first thoughts as i cycled up past angkor wat was how much it reminded me of ash burnham, with its massive moat which was wide enough to be considered a river and dense bush. i couldnt stop imagining the place 800 years ago in its prime. its seems like such a long time ago when you look at all the crumbling temples completely overgrown with trees and wildlife. it is really a very beautiful place, more than anything i was just enjoying the quite, its great being out in the country. this week was the kings birthday, which basically means there were hardly any tourists or locals, on more than one occasion i had an entire temple to myself, which was pretty cool. it did rain non stop all morning, so i was completely drenched and most of the road were flooded which meant cycling through a foot of water for a large section of the circuit. i think i must have cycled about 30k and the day before chris reconed it was more like 40k, so all in all we got the most out of our bike rentals! after cycling through rice paddies and dense jungle for about 4 1/2 hours i decided to make my way back to angkor wat park my bike and wonder round, chris came up to angkor with the expressed intention of 'getting lost in the bush' fair enough, i think he had fun and came back completely coated in mud. to use his own words...'what could go wrong?' i had good fun and was, by this point, well up for a few rounds down the pub and a large hearty meal, so we headed back exchanging stories about heards of elephants blocking the road and crazy old women giving odd directions in the bush. at one point i gave up cycling because my knees were startiong to ache so i grabbed on to a passing tuk tuk and got him to carry me along for a couple of k, the group of khmer school kids though this was the best thing they had ever seen and were taking pictures of me with their phones before i nearly got forced off the road and quickly let go much to their displeasure, we exchanged grins and i carried on my way. my favorite part of the all the temple complexes, and there are alot, was the elephant terrace at bayon in angkor thom. the sign said this long platform was used by the angkorian kings to welcome foreign guests and inspect military parades, the bast thing was that it look out onto a large open field so you could just imagine elephants with armour and archers on them followed by gold plated shields and chariots, the carvings inside angkor wat show all these things in great detail. i have some photos and will post up here soon. one of the most bizarre things i saw carved on the tamples was a guy who had carved his name and dated his graffiti at 1905. for over a century people have been scribling their names onto these beautiful buildings. i also spent a while wondering around ta prom where they filmed the tomb raider film, made famous by the huge trees growing on top and on the side of the walls having spent decades pushing their way up through the stones. it felt like it had been discovered yesterday because the jungle still held a strong grip on it, most of the temples are being restored or just proped up by scaffolding and a couple, it seemed, were almost being rebuilt. it truely was an amazing place i could have easily spent another day there. shame i didnt have the time and had to get back to the city for kids club on wednesday afternoon, which i was a bit bummed about becaue i was having so much fun but chirs wanted to get back to see the old trouble and strife.
our bus journey back seemed to take less time than on the way up and we pay half the price for it! i got back barely ten minutes before the kids arrived for the afternoon club which wasnt ideal considering i had just spent five hours on a bus and hadnt changed my clothes for a while. so i was a bit smelly and very crusty.
i leave phnom penh in one month and am going to go book some flights to new zealand today. i will be back in england on june 30th. i cant believe its may where has the year gone already?
Ben.
my second day in siem reap was just as good as the first. i started by getting some breaky and finding a cheap old bike to rent then headed off through the flooded streets up to angkor. my first thoughts as i cycled up past angkor wat was how much it reminded me of ash burnham, with its massive moat which was wide enough to be considered a river and dense bush. i couldnt stop imagining the place 800 years ago in its prime. its seems like such a long time ago when you look at all the crumbling temples completely overgrown with trees and wildlife. it is really a very beautiful place, more than anything i was just enjoying the quite, its great being out in the country. this week was the kings birthday, which basically means there were hardly any tourists or locals, on more than one occasion i had an entire temple to myself, which was pretty cool. it did rain non stop all morning, so i was completely drenched and most of the road were flooded which meant cycling through a foot of water for a large section of the circuit. i think i must have cycled about 30k and the day before chris reconed it was more like 40k, so all in all we got the most out of our bike rentals! after cycling through rice paddies and dense jungle for about 4 1/2 hours i decided to make my way back to angkor wat park my bike and wonder round, chris came up to angkor with the expressed intention of 'getting lost in the bush' fair enough, i think he had fun and came back completely coated in mud. to use his own words...'what could go wrong?' i had good fun and was, by this point, well up for a few rounds down the pub and a large hearty meal, so we headed back exchanging stories about heards of elephants blocking the road and crazy old women giving odd directions in the bush. at one point i gave up cycling because my knees were startiong to ache so i grabbed on to a passing tuk tuk and got him to carry me along for a couple of k, the group of khmer school kids though this was the best thing they had ever seen and were taking pictures of me with their phones before i nearly got forced off the road and quickly let go much to their displeasure, we exchanged grins and i carried on my way. my favorite part of the all the temple complexes, and there are alot, was the elephant terrace at bayon in angkor thom. the sign said this long platform was used by the angkorian kings to welcome foreign guests and inspect military parades, the bast thing was that it look out onto a large open field so you could just imagine elephants with armour and archers on them followed by gold plated shields and chariots, the carvings inside angkor wat show all these things in great detail. i have some photos and will post up here soon. one of the most bizarre things i saw carved on the tamples was a guy who had carved his name and dated his graffiti at 1905. for over a century people have been scribling their names onto these beautiful buildings. i also spent a while wondering around ta prom where they filmed the tomb raider film, made famous by the huge trees growing on top and on the side of the walls having spent decades pushing their way up through the stones. it felt like it had been discovered yesterday because the jungle still held a strong grip on it, most of the temples are being restored or just proped up by scaffolding and a couple, it seemed, were almost being rebuilt. it truely was an amazing place i could have easily spent another day there. shame i didnt have the time and had to get back to the city for kids club on wednesday afternoon, which i was a bit bummed about becaue i was having so much fun but chirs wanted to get back to see the old trouble and strife.
our bus journey back seemed to take less time than on the way up and we pay half the price for it! i got back barely ten minutes before the kids arrived for the afternoon club which wasnt ideal considering i had just spent five hours on a bus and hadnt changed my clothes for a while. so i was a bit smelly and very crusty.
i leave phnom penh in one month and am going to go book some flights to new zealand today. i will be back in england on june 30th. i cant believe its may where has the year gone already?
Ben.
Monday, May 14, 2007
finders keepers
soo much to say, apologies in advance for this lengthy post.
so after a very sucessful sunday morning with sinart from potchentong bringing a whole bunch more new faces along...that could take up a post in itself. me and chris grabbed a bus up to siem reap. this is the town jeni visited last week, if any of you follow her blog. so after 5 1/2 hours driving through the country, which by the way i didnt take my eyes off the whole time, we arrived late and smelly. all i could think of was how much i love it out in the country, it felt like a relief to be leaving the city and for the first time in a while i really felt like i was enjoying being here. nothing like an adventure to get my juices flowing! after a night in a rather over priced guest house ($10) we decided to jump ship and head closer to town. our next experiment was with a guest house with a banner over the door saying....literally 'looks expensive but not' classic. so we have a $7 room, which we both felt a bit better about. this morning we decided to hire a couple of mountain bikes and rough it out in the cambodian bush, we were headed for a silk farm where they make the most incredible stuff out of silk and give you a tour of their farm including a look at all the cocoons and worms and slave labourers. some of their material is so intricate they can only weave 20cm per day....and thats a cambodian day so about 20 hours, joke, more like 12. it was a beautiful thing cycling through the country, not a tourist in sight and burning it through puddles that would be considered small lakes in england. indeed the main street in siem reap was under about a foot of water. tyhe monsoon is in full swing no doubt about it. on our way back after a 16k ride out and back to the silk farm we stopped at the siem reap army base where they have a military war museum. this, by the way, is far cooler than it sounds and includes a selection of decimated tanks and various other machines that had been blown to pieces by mines and american planes. we also got to hold bazookas and a variety of russian made rifles. i also managed to boost (steal) a real khmer rouge bullet, it took me a few minutes to twist the rusty metal bullet of its case but then i left much happier knowing that i had in my possesion a real piece of cambodian history, even if i had to loot a museum to get it. i guess i really should feel a bit guilty, but to be honest its so cool i dont regret it one bit. burn in hell i hear you saying, finders keepers is my reply.
so after nearly 30k's of cycling in slouching in an air conditioned internet cafe in the town and am about to go meet chris for a bevie. one funny moment from the day was after jumping through a rather deeper puddle than expected and hence coated in hot mud i turn to chris and say 'mate...i flippin love this country' happy times. tomorow were going to cycle round the temples some more, only saw them from the distance today. the country up here is certainly picturesque miles after miles of bright green rice paddies, so green it hurts your eyes to look at them, this really is a beautiful country. right, the beer is calling must go.
s-ait do knear mpairt roboh knyom
Ben.
so after a very sucessful sunday morning with sinart from potchentong bringing a whole bunch more new faces along...that could take up a post in itself. me and chris grabbed a bus up to siem reap. this is the town jeni visited last week, if any of you follow her blog. so after 5 1/2 hours driving through the country, which by the way i didnt take my eyes off the whole time, we arrived late and smelly. all i could think of was how much i love it out in the country, it felt like a relief to be leaving the city and for the first time in a while i really felt like i was enjoying being here. nothing like an adventure to get my juices flowing! after a night in a rather over priced guest house ($10) we decided to jump ship and head closer to town. our next experiment was with a guest house with a banner over the door saying....literally 'looks expensive but not' classic. so we have a $7 room, which we both felt a bit better about. this morning we decided to hire a couple of mountain bikes and rough it out in the cambodian bush, we were headed for a silk farm where they make the most incredible stuff out of silk and give you a tour of their farm including a look at all the cocoons and worms and slave labourers. some of their material is so intricate they can only weave 20cm per day....and thats a cambodian day so about 20 hours, joke, more like 12. it was a beautiful thing cycling through the country, not a tourist in sight and burning it through puddles that would be considered small lakes in england. indeed the main street in siem reap was under about a foot of water. tyhe monsoon is in full swing no doubt about it. on our way back after a 16k ride out and back to the silk farm we stopped at the siem reap army base where they have a military war museum. this, by the way, is far cooler than it sounds and includes a selection of decimated tanks and various other machines that had been blown to pieces by mines and american planes. we also got to hold bazookas and a variety of russian made rifles. i also managed to boost (steal) a real khmer rouge bullet, it took me a few minutes to twist the rusty metal bullet of its case but then i left much happier knowing that i had in my possesion a real piece of cambodian history, even if i had to loot a museum to get it. i guess i really should feel a bit guilty, but to be honest its so cool i dont regret it one bit. burn in hell i hear you saying, finders keepers is my reply.
so after nearly 30k's of cycling in slouching in an air conditioned internet cafe in the town and am about to go meet chris for a bevie. one funny moment from the day was after jumping through a rather deeper puddle than expected and hence coated in hot mud i turn to chris and say 'mate...i flippin love this country' happy times. tomorow were going to cycle round the temples some more, only saw them from the distance today. the country up here is certainly picturesque miles after miles of bright green rice paddies, so green it hurts your eyes to look at them, this really is a beautiful country. right, the beer is calling must go.
s-ait do knear mpairt roboh knyom
Ben.
Friday, May 11, 2007
6p
for those of you who dont know me and those of you who i thought did know me let me clear something up. my previous blog 'Ronan' was indeed a joke. no i am not going into the love ballad business and disown me at your own peril mr fox. i actually only went to the gig because jeni wouldnt shut up about it, something about it being her lifes mission to see him perform or something.
glad we cleared that up.
i forgot to tell you about the khmer gym. me and chris decided to go and visit this khmer gym just up the road so off we went in the pouring rain and quickly found ourselves in a shack with about 20 other kick boxers and body builders trying to lift weights. i must say at this point that it was all chris's idea. after a few minutes of not really knowing what to do and looking really awkward i just went off and started playing with some different machines and chris got talking to this guy who was explaining the best way to get 'chunky' as he put it. after what seemed like an eternity we left after only 40 minutes. not bad considering i can barely wink without breaking into a sweat. the session cost us 500 riel each which is about 6p, i think we got our moneys worth. can you imagine if david lloyd cost 6p. struth.
im furiously drinking milk at the moment trying to put on some weight. problem is the milk aint cheap, but thats ok. it doesnt taste that bad so i put up with it. happy days.
keep sending messages.
Ben.
glad we cleared that up.
i forgot to tell you about the khmer gym. me and chris decided to go and visit this khmer gym just up the road so off we went in the pouring rain and quickly found ourselves in a shack with about 20 other kick boxers and body builders trying to lift weights. i must say at this point that it was all chris's idea. after a few minutes of not really knowing what to do and looking really awkward i just went off and started playing with some different machines and chris got talking to this guy who was explaining the best way to get 'chunky' as he put it. after what seemed like an eternity we left after only 40 minutes. not bad considering i can barely wink without breaking into a sweat. the session cost us 500 riel each which is about 6p, i think we got our moneys worth. can you imagine if david lloyd cost 6p. struth.
im furiously drinking milk at the moment trying to put on some weight. problem is the milk aint cheap, but thats ok. it doesnt taste that bad so i put up with it. happy days.
keep sending messages.
Ben.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
links
just as a side note, and only if you have the imte!, please check out the other blogs i have linked to my page. of particular interest to life here in cambodia is jeni cottrells, who shares life here and my dads blog that has some more photos of their holiday here in january.
chaeck out my brother olivers for random posts and serious spiritual discussion as well as john piper and peter cockrells blogs which i have found a great resource of recent months. john piper has a particularly good message on his site about 'getting the most out of your cancer' sounds strange i know, but very helpful in view of all that is happening here and all that heppened with robb.
belinda must get a mention with her endless baby photos and craig provides some interesting insights into life in wales...talk about cross culture!
let me know what you think.
Ben.
chaeck out my brother olivers for random posts and serious spiritual discussion as well as john piper and peter cockrells blogs which i have found a great resource of recent months. john piper has a particularly good message on his site about 'getting the most out of your cancer' sounds strange i know, but very helpful in view of all that is happening here and all that heppened with robb.
belinda must get a mention with her endless baby photos and craig provides some interesting insights into life in wales...talk about cross culture!
let me know what you think.
Ben.
Ronan
this story all starts two weeks ago...
...so as usual i stopped at the petrol station to fill up and get my weekly mars bar when after a long deliberation between mars and snickers, i finally chose my treat. in a sugar induced trance i stumbled out of the shop and saw a rather large poster with a photo of Ronan Keating on it and a sign that announced that he was doing a gig at the olympic stadium a couple of weeks later.this sounds fairly trivial, i know, but you must understand that no international artist has ever played in cambodia, this is by far the largest and most publicised event the country has seen in recent years. so after a few days joking around with jeni that we should go along, iu started to think seriously that i would actually really like to go. note the strong sense of sarcasm in my writing yet beyond it there is an element of truth. when the day came round i nearly forgot about it then suddenly remembered in time and off we went in the pouring rain to see if we could get some tickets. not only did we get tickets but we got ushered through to the front where only the people who had paid lots more than us were sitting. after enduring three awful khmer pop songs from some girl Ronan himself and the band strutted onto the stage to an unbelivable throng of screams and kicked off in a rather unexpected rock and roll jig. much to my surprise and after a few songs of feebly waving my glow stick and clapping along i started to really enjoy it, obviously jeni was loving it and at one point stood on her chair to throw some underware up on the stage. it was just a shame i didnt know any of the songs to sing along, until he pulled out a few boyzone classics which i only recognised come the chorus but heartly sang, in my head, along to. it is funny how something you associate with the west, even though i would never go to see ronan keating in england, can remind you of home. just the atmosphere of a live concert and the songs in english was a welcomed break from the terrible khmer pop ive grown accustomed to. aside from all the joking, i did really enjoy the gig. one thing to say is that the band were incredibly good musicians. the guitarists between them had about 8 guitars and at one point ronan himself played, he clearly wasnt playing along because he was changing chords in all the wrong places, i could tell! and the drummer had some serious skills. one thing to say about pop is that you really cant beat the melody, that was all i could think afterwards. even though the words are soppy and the song names cheesy, the melodies are fantastic. it was then and there in that moment that i realised the point of my life, the reason i am here on this earth...to write love ballads. i wish! after several years unsucessfully trying to write a good meaningful hymn ive decided to turn my attemtion to writing love ballads. i can unleash all my obvious charm and wit to fashion some songs to melt the hearts of sweaty cambodians and their western husbands. the otherthing was the hoards of embarrising dads that were present at the show, only they wernt with their kids, they were with their asian girlfriends. ughh. and their moves were literally unbelievable. i think jeni has some good photos that hopefully she will post on her blog, so keep checking it. good times.
this whole blog and the concert started off as a joke but i really feel like i have meaning and a direction i have finally found my role in society. if only i was irish.
Ronan...opps i mean Ben.
...so as usual i stopped at the petrol station to fill up and get my weekly mars bar when after a long deliberation between mars and snickers, i finally chose my treat. in a sugar induced trance i stumbled out of the shop and saw a rather large poster with a photo of Ronan Keating on it and a sign that announced that he was doing a gig at the olympic stadium a couple of weeks later.this sounds fairly trivial, i know, but you must understand that no international artist has ever played in cambodia, this is by far the largest and most publicised event the country has seen in recent years. so after a few days joking around with jeni that we should go along, iu started to think seriously that i would actually really like to go. note the strong sense of sarcasm in my writing yet beyond it there is an element of truth. when the day came round i nearly forgot about it then suddenly remembered in time and off we went in the pouring rain to see if we could get some tickets. not only did we get tickets but we got ushered through to the front where only the people who had paid lots more than us were sitting. after enduring three awful khmer pop songs from some girl Ronan himself and the band strutted onto the stage to an unbelivable throng of screams and kicked off in a rather unexpected rock and roll jig. much to my surprise and after a few songs of feebly waving my glow stick and clapping along i started to really enjoy it, obviously jeni was loving it and at one point stood on her chair to throw some underware up on the stage. it was just a shame i didnt know any of the songs to sing along, until he pulled out a few boyzone classics which i only recognised come the chorus but heartly sang, in my head, along to. it is funny how something you associate with the west, even though i would never go to see ronan keating in england, can remind you of home. just the atmosphere of a live concert and the songs in english was a welcomed break from the terrible khmer pop ive grown accustomed to. aside from all the joking, i did really enjoy the gig. one thing to say is that the band were incredibly good musicians. the guitarists between them had about 8 guitars and at one point ronan himself played, he clearly wasnt playing along because he was changing chords in all the wrong places, i could tell! and the drummer had some serious skills. one thing to say about pop is that you really cant beat the melody, that was all i could think afterwards. even though the words are soppy and the song names cheesy, the melodies are fantastic. it was then and there in that moment that i realised the point of my life, the reason i am here on this earth...to write love ballads. i wish! after several years unsucessfully trying to write a good meaningful hymn ive decided to turn my attemtion to writing love ballads. i can unleash all my obvious charm and wit to fashion some songs to melt the hearts of sweaty cambodians and their western husbands. the otherthing was the hoards of embarrising dads that were present at the show, only they wernt with their kids, they were with their asian girlfriends. ughh. and their moves were literally unbelievable. i think jeni has some good photos that hopefully she will post on her blog, so keep checking it. good times.
this whole blog and the concert started off as a joke but i really feel like i have meaning and a direction i have finally found my role in society. if only i was irish.
Ronan...opps i mean Ben.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
spilling beans
the frog in the gate
the view from the flat balcony.
and yes, sorry becky, the date on my camera is several years wrong, apologies. you are not raving mad.
its been a very hard week. some things have happened at the church that have upset some people and left a few with a bad taste in the mouth. i cant really spill the beans but its a fairly classic scenario but an incredibly difficult decision for steve. i dont envy him anything.
life rolls on. i cant really believe that its may. i cant remember what it is like to live in england anymore, ive been in this incredibly intense. non stop, manic life that what at first seemed ubsurd has become normal. i can imagine upon arrival in england there will be many things that i will need to readjust in my thinking, including the laws of the road, personal hygine and various other seemingly illegal activities. ive said it before and ill say it again, what an unbelievably mental place this is. completely mental.
Ben.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
the incident of the frog in the night
in the latest frog episode, of which there have been many of recent weeks, i rather over zealously slammed the gate shut last night after returning from a boozer at the pub to the sound of a squish. in no frame of mind to switch the lights on and see what poor soul had met its fate that solumn eve, i wondered up the steps to the flat and slep soundly as if no conscience was even assigned to me. then come the morning i dicovered that it was in fact a frog that had, rather interestingly, manage to get its head in between the post and the gate just at the time i pulled it shut. this, as you can imagine, left a unendingly amusing dead frog with its brains literally all over the pavement in the door way just in time for the sunday morning rush. good skils....that story is one hundred percent true.
we had a good meeting today, another long one. ive partaken in a few marathons recently, including a four hur prayer meeting where i played guitar non stop for 1. 1/2 hours then church today started at 8am and ended at 2pm...thats...wait...im just working it out...6 hours! admittedly this did include lunch and a heavy dose of faffing, of which the khmer people are experts. a guy called patrick from england spoke and he was really good, he helps lead a plant in glouster and is 68. he had some wise words for me which were encouraging and was obviously a pretty solid bloke. ive appreciated meeting a few older, significantly older, men in the past 8 months who have offered some very wise words. bob in christchurch, new zealand, had a good affect on me and really helped me sort some things out in my head. good guy.
i am currently drinking a khmer milk shake, which is not as bad as it sounds and tastes better than it looks. i did actually buy it from a shop and not some random geezer down the street. it isnt often i buy strawberry but it was either that, rats blood or bat brains flavour, so the choice was easy...joke.
peace out,
Ben.
we had a good meeting today, another long one. ive partaken in a few marathons recently, including a four hur prayer meeting where i played guitar non stop for 1. 1/2 hours then church today started at 8am and ended at 2pm...thats...wait...im just working it out...6 hours! admittedly this did include lunch and a heavy dose of faffing, of which the khmer people are experts. a guy called patrick from england spoke and he was really good, he helps lead a plant in glouster and is 68. he had some wise words for me which were encouraging and was obviously a pretty solid bloke. ive appreciated meeting a few older, significantly older, men in the past 8 months who have offered some very wise words. bob in christchurch, new zealand, had a good affect on me and really helped me sort some things out in my head. good guy.
i am currently drinking a khmer milk shake, which is not as bad as it sounds and tastes better than it looks. i did actually buy it from a shop and not some random geezer down the street. it isnt often i buy strawberry but it was either that, rats blood or bat brains flavour, so the choice was easy...joke.
peace out,
Ben.
Friday, May 04, 2007
KFC
ive been continuing in my nostalgic frame of mind over the past week, which has left me in a solumn mood to say the least, but like i said before i am feeling very content with life here. i think if i didnt know when exactly i was leaving i would already be looney, not to say that i am not verging on the looney side as it is, but i am certain that i wouldnt, in my current state, be classified as looney.
not much news to report, i hope you liked the photos and appreciated the obvious creative and athletic ability that went into the construction of the film that i linked to the last post. good times, eh? ive had some good ones here as well and shall always look back and remember happily the times i spent sitting on a curb in the rain trying to eat from a plastic cup with chop sticks. good times indeed.
i woke this morn to find a rather interesting surprise in the bathroom. im not joking when i say this toad the size of a tennis ball was hopping around and doing front flips off the seat into the bowl as if to prove that he is a more experienced swimmer than i. so after a few failed attempts to splat him with a frying pan i gave up and decided to fight for the moral victory and assume the high status for the fact that i didnt lower myself and try to jump in myself, this obviously left him in a state of depression and loss at the fact that he had been so utterly undone by my intellect he quickly left, leaving me victorious.
not all of that story is true...but there was a large toad in my bathroom, which sovath offered to fry for me to which he quickly asked, with a questioning look upon his face 'how do they cook frogs in england?' to which i obviously answered 'deep fried in batter, they call it KFC' i walked off to hear him whisper to himself 'K...F...C?'....ok so not all of that was true either but it makes a good story, eh?
this rather random post is for the great man i have the privelige of calling my dad. happy birthday old boy, chin up your not 50 yet.
Ben.
not much news to report, i hope you liked the photos and appreciated the obvious creative and athletic ability that went into the construction of the film that i linked to the last post. good times, eh? ive had some good ones here as well and shall always look back and remember happily the times i spent sitting on a curb in the rain trying to eat from a plastic cup with chop sticks. good times indeed.
i woke this morn to find a rather interesting surprise in the bathroom. im not joking when i say this toad the size of a tennis ball was hopping around and doing front flips off the seat into the bowl as if to prove that he is a more experienced swimmer than i. so after a few failed attempts to splat him with a frying pan i gave up and decided to fight for the moral victory and assume the high status for the fact that i didnt lower myself and try to jump in myself, this obviously left him in a state of depression and loss at the fact that he had been so utterly undone by my intellect he quickly left, leaving me victorious.
not all of that story is true...but there was a large toad in my bathroom, which sovath offered to fry for me to which he quickly asked, with a questioning look upon his face 'how do they cook frogs in england?' to which i obviously answered 'deep fried in batter, they call it KFC' i walked off to hear him whisper to himself 'K...F...C?'....ok so not all of that was true either but it makes a good story, eh?
this rather random post is for the great man i have the privelige of calling my dad. happy birthday old boy, chin up your not 50 yet.
Ben.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
road south
royal palace at night 
kite flying.
independence monument
the long road south
more kites
harry at the bottom looks seriously scary,eh? this is kids club.
luc and darit
Sothy with his baptism certificate
two albino khmers.
the water fall en route to the beach...way back in november 2006.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj5VCywfk40
this is a classic film me and my bros made last year.
hope you enjoy the latest pictures, thanks for all the comments. keep em rolling.
Ben.
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