… fumbling about and around the Kingdom. Never felt so happy and so lost at the same time.
Sunsets like this make it really hard to leave the beach. Just look at those colours at Occheuteal Beach – with the golden rays from the setting sun that are starting to spread across the sky. I took this photo with a couple of photo-bombers who seem to be enjoying the view as much as I am. Sunsets in Sihanoukville never disappoint!
More fantastic photos of the sky at Skywatch Friday.
Sunset perfection, casting that magical glow over the beach. Seriously, postcard perfection!
This postcard was sent by my awesome friend, Dylan, and is giving me some serious island-envy. Talk about breathtaking – those fiery colours and the calm ocean… it practically screams tranquility. Can you imagine being there, toes in the sand, watching this unfold in real life? Sigh.
This postcard is a double first for me! Not only is it the first (and maybe only?) one I’ve ever received from Fiji, but it’s also the inspiration for my very first entry in this week’s Thursday Postcards Hunt. That magical Fijian sunset is definitely postcard perfection, and it holds a special place in my collection for both reasons!
Before the Khmer New Year this year, my boss (who is based in Battambang province) swung by the Phnom Penh Programme Office for his regular check in. On his last night in Phnom Penh, we had a staff dinner and, unlike other well-funded NGOs, ours was a split-the-bill-evenly kind of situation. But hey, our budget woes didn’t stop the good times!
Southeast Asia has a fantastic tradition when it comes to beer: it’s all about camaraderies and laughter. Picture this: a bunch of people around a table laden with food, karaoke, mugs or cans of beer in hand, ready to clink glasses and celebrate. As an expat in Cambodia, one thing that really caught my eye (and my funny bone a few times) was how they toast here. It’s a whole different ball game to what I’m used to back home (and probably everywhere else!).
In Cambodia, for starters, beer comes with an endless supply of ice (genius in the heat!) and often a straw for, I don’t know, maybe some added fun experience. When it’s time to toast, or chol muoy (one sip), as they call it locally, forget the usual clink-sip routine. It’s a ritual that’s about more than just a drink.
Here’s the fun (and sometimes slightly overwhelming) part: cheering is a huge part of the beer-drinking experience. In Cambodia, saying chol moy with every sip is pretty much the norm. So, you take a swig, everyone else follows suit (and vice versa). But the twist? Every time someone raises their mug for a toast, you have to do the same – and it happens a LOT, which can be quite amusing (or slightly annoying) for a newbie in Cambodia. Imagine you just finished raising your mug and half-way through taking a sip when another one decides to chol muoy again, and so on – hah, you get the picture! And forget about a simple raise of your glass – those mugs and cans got to clink for a proper cheer!
Each clink is like an invitation to share stories, have a laugh, and build memories together. It’s a beautiful way of celebrating the sense of community that is at the heart of Cambodian beer-drinking culture. And, as I looked around the table that night, I saw this incredible mix of people and thought about how similar and yet different we are at the same time, united by the universal language of cheers.
So, as we sat down with our boss that night, we raised our mugs to the moments that bring us together, to the challenges that push us to do our best work, to the traditions that make us smile, and to the quirky customs that remind us – especially expats like me – that sometimes it’s the little things that make life in a foreign country truly delightful. Chol muoy!
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This is my first post to the weekly My Corner of the World link up.