Buddha Park

I'm backtracking a bit on the chronology of the blog to write more about Laos.  Besides the beautiful waterfall where I broke my finger, another highlight of the trip was Buddha Park.  While other members of our group stayed with our tour guide to hit the prime shopping boutiques of Vientiane, a small group of us hired a van and driver to go to Buddha Park.  Although we could have taken a public bus or hailed a tuk tuk (an open-air motorized rickshaw), it turned out to be prescient to have the van.  Because the road there was BuMpY!  It brought Jeremy and me back to our time in Kenya, bouncing around in a safari jeep on rutted roads.  The driver claimed that the government purposefully didn't fix that road because of the number of vehicle fatalities that used to occur when drivers sped down the smooth asphalt.  Perhaps...

After being thoroughly jostled, we arrived at Buddha Park.  The park was created in the late 1950s by monk Luang Phu Bunlua Sulilat as a way of sharing his philosophy of life and interpretation of the cosmos.  Buddha Park is actually an inaccurate name since the park includes statues of both Buddhist and Hindu images.

Upon entering, the first structure that caught our eye was the pumpkin tower.  

Jeremy entered the pumpkin tower through the mouth of the demon head.

Inside the mouth was Hell and from there, Jeremy climbed ladders and stairs through Earth to reach Heaven on top.  I learned that on Wikipedia.  Walking through it myself, I had no idea I was transcending the levels of the universe; I was only aware that the entire interior was hellish with cobwebs and steep stairs.  But the top did offer a heavenly view of all the quirky statues of the park.

Back on the ground, we couldn't resist taking silly pictures with the statues.  

Taking a Break in Laos

Two weeks ago, Jeremy and I took a trip to Laos.  A highlight of the trip was our afternoon at Kuangsi Waterfall Park.  After a morning spent visiting Buddhist temples, we appreciated the switch from manmade to natural beauty.  

We spent some time trekking up to the actual falls, then stripped down to our bathing suits to take advantage of the natural pools of the river.  An entertaining addition to one of the pools was a rope swing, from which adventurous swimmers could jump from a tree into the cool waters.  Jeremy demonstrated the cannonball approach.  I went for the less graceful split-leg pencil.

Upon surfacing from my jump, I noticed some strain in my finger.  In the process of letting go/slipping from the rope, my middle finger had a run-in with a knot in the rope.  I flexed my fingers, felt discomfort more than actual pain, and continued enjoying the pool.  If I had hurt my hand, there wasn't much I could do about it at that moment, so I might as well enjoy the water while I could!  

As the day continued, however, the discomfort did change to pain, and was joined by swelling and bruising.  Once we got back to Phnom Penh, I visited the Embassy medical unit, and eventually got an x-ray that confirmed the source of the problem: a fracture.

Due to Phnom Penh's lack of medical facilities to deal with broken bones, I was sent to Bangkok for treatment.  During my consultation with the surgeon, he recommended outpatient surgery under local anesthesia to implant a plate in my finger.  Sounded good to me, so this morning I showed up at the hospital for surgery.  Realizing that I would be awake through the procedure and having absolutely no desire to see any of it, I brought my sleep mask with me and put it over my eyes as soon as I laid down in the operating room.  Immediately I wished I had brought my Ipod, because even though I couldn't see, I could still hear everything going on around me and had nothing to distract me from drawing my own conclusions of what was happening.  I'm telling you...it is very disconcerting to be aware of the doctor pulling, pushing, and prodding away, even though I couldn't feel any pain.  In a desperate attempt to think of anything besides what the doc was doing to my finger, I mentally counted from 1 to 100 in Khmer (the Cambodian language), sang song lyrics, reviewed what I could see/do in Bangkok before I leave, etc.  I was also thankful that I don't know a word of Thai and couldn't understand the staff talking to each other in the operating room.  Relief flooded in when doctor said "all finished."

Despite the oddness of surgery under local anesthesia, I was impressed with the professionalism and customer service of everyone at the hospital.  I especially love that some of the nurses still wear cute, white nurse's caps!

Oh goodie...more carrots for dinner

Last week, I did something I don't think I've ever done before.  I went on a diet!  But this was no ordinary diet of simply limiting carbs and sugars.  I went on a raw food cleanse combined with daily workouts with a professional trainer.  

The cleanse was organized by a local cafe in Phnom Penh that specializes in healthy, organic, vegan, and raw food.  Each day, I received a box with my meals for the day.  Inside were six small containers that held all the food I was allowed to consume for the entire day.  Other than the contents of that box, I was permitted to drink water, and that was it!  

Breakfast: Raw banana and flax crepe with almond butter and fresh fruit.  Watermelon and mint juice.

In addition to the prescribed food, those of us on the program had daily workout sessions with a trainer.  These were like no other workouts ever.  One day included 100 pushups plus 100 bench presses plus 100 bicep curls.  I have never been so sore as last week.  For two days, it hurt every time I fully straightened my arms!

Lunch: Raw lasagne with spinach and cashew nut spread.  Raw apple pie with spiced walnut base.

Although other participants in the program said they felt invigorated and full of energy (liars), I felt drained.  By Tuesday, I could barely stay up past 9:00 and by Wednesday my brain felt slow.  My boss laughed as he watched me come up to our office door and pause while I had to think of the combination to open it.  Bear in mind this is a door and combination that I use dozens of times a day!  

Actually, my boss was pretty much laughing at me and my raw food cleanse all week.  And perhaps he was right to laugh.  Although these pictures showcase some of the better offerings, several meals I choked down solely because those were the only calories I was gonna get!  And despite the hype of the program, I only lost two pounds.

Dinner: Raw pad Thai with sweet potato, carrot, and homemade raw peanut sauce with a spirulina, coconut, mint, and chia seed protein bar.

But I didn't do the program to lose weight.  I was hoping for a kickstart to make some healthier changes.  And it certainly helped me rethink portion size and if I really should eat that entire pizza for lunch when half will do me just fine.  Plus the workouts showed that I can push my body further than I ever thought possible.  

In Cambodia, they celebrate New Year's in mid-April.  So here's to a new year ahead recommitted to a healthier, stronger, fitter me!  But please, no more carrot salads for dinner!

Singaporean Weekend

Last weekend, Jeremy and I visited Singapore.  It's fascinating that just a two-hour flight from messy, chaotic Phnom Penh is orderly, clean Singapore.  One Singaporean image that really struck me was looking down on the road from my hotel room and seeing all the cars stopped neatly in their lanes with adequate stopping distance between them...quite different from the "shove into any available space" roads of Phnom Penh!

We spent the first day walking around the Singapore River waterfront and surrounding areas.  We enjoyed many of the unique buildings and sculptures of the city, including these photos below.  I especially liked walking along the waterfront quays which were teeming with restaurants of every possible cuisine and people celebrating the end of the work week.

Our primary reason for being in Singapore occupied the second day.  Jeremy's Australian Rules Football team had traveled to Singapore to play in a tournament.  Although Jeremy joined the team within weeks of our arrival in Phnom Penh, he hadn't played an actual game since 2010, so he was a bit nervous.  But, as always, he played very well and scored a goal in the 2nd game, helping his team finish in a draw.

After the tournament finished, we gathered for a gala dinner to celebrate the Singapore team's 20th anniversary.  We spent the evening being entertained by Aussies' undeniable talent for making fun of themselves and everything else with eyesight or earshot!

The next day, it was back to Phnom Penh.  But not before I took advantage of the mega-shopping malls of Singapore to get some clothes shopping done!  Hey, a girl's gotta take advantage when opportunity strikes!

Royal Palace

On Saturday, Jeremy and I visited the Royal Palace.  Cambodia has had a monarchy for the majority of its history.  The exception was a 2-decade stretch beginning in 1970 when the king was overthrown in a coup, the Khmer Rouge reigned, the Vietnamese invaded to oust the Khmer Rouge, and the UN stepped in to broker peace among all sides.  The king returned to the throne in 1993, although his position is now the ceremonial head of state, with the prime minister running the country as the head of government.

The Royal Palace remains the official residence of the king and occupies a full city block in the heart of central Phnom Penh.  Our first task was to find the tourist entrance.  A local approached us as we were walking around the exterior wall and told us the palace was closed for the holiday weekend.  (Cambodia was celebrating its New Years.)  But we persisted and found the ticket booth open for business.  The local was just trying to deter us in the hopes that we would enlist him as our tour guide for other sights of the city.  How nice!

Once inside, we passed through a peaceful garden walkway with various statues.  It seemed the perfect spot to stop for a photo.

Emerging from the walkway, our first sight was the impressive Throne Hall.  The exterior overshadowed the interior, which we could not enter, but could view through the open windows.

The centerpiece of any tourist's visit to the Royal Palace is the Silver Pagoda.  It is the only building on the compound that tourists can enter, although no photos are allowed inside.  The pagoda floor is made of silver, hence it's name.  Inside is a Buddhist shrine, with both an emerald Buddha and a gold Buddha bejeweled with diamonds.  No lack of wealth on display here!

Surrounding the Silver Pagoda were several other structures, including this memorial shrine to King Norodom.

We were just able to see everything before the guards shooed us out for closing time.  Then we went in search of a cold drink to cool off!

Streets of Phnom Penh

One of the very first things a visitor to Phnom Penh notices is the chaotic streets.  Streets here may have any number of the following modes of transport:

Vehicles - ranging from large trucks to SUVs to sedans

Motorcycles (AKA motos) - carrying from 1-5 passengers and possibly cargo (seriously!)

Tuk-Tuks - motos hitched to an open-air passenger cabin that fits 4 people comfortably

Bicycles - usually riden by a Cambodian not wearing a helmet and talking on a cell phone

Hand-pulled carts - luckily there aren't TOO many of these in the central city district

Pedestrians - either trying to cross the street or walking in the street because the sidewalk is unpassable

In addition to all this, Cambodians employ some unique driving techniques.  When they come to an intersection and want to make a left-hand turn, but there's too much traffic to get across, no problem!  They will simply turn left into the lanes of oncoming traffic and hug the sidewalk.  As windows of opportunities open up, they will slide over until they are finally driving in the correct lane.  Thankfully, I haven't seen cars do this but all the other above vehicles do. 

Also, Cambodian drivers are only obligated to look forward.  It's not necessary for them to look to the side or behind them.  In America, we are taught that we need to look around us before we pull out, turn, or back-up to ensure we are not impeding anyone else's path.  I feel that the opposite is practiced here.  Looking only forward, drivers simple proceed on their chosen path and it's up to the drivers around them to notice and give way.  Demonstrating this principle perfectly is the below vehicle, which has an opaque sunscreen on the front passenger's window.  We've even seen these sunscreens on the driver's window!

So, how does all this end up working out in practice?  Some have described it as a "school of fish" mentality.  In general, everyone moves at low speeds and simply moves around and past any impediments that arise, whether it is a slower-moving bicycle, a turning tuk-tuk, a parked car, or a pedestrian.  We've also been advised not to make sudden moves while driving.  Slow and steady is the way to go, easing our way into a turn or intersection.  In actuality, though, there are an awful lot of accidents, and we've witnessed some very close calls at four-way intersections, which mostly don't have stop signs or traffic lights.  Very tricky when everyone is only looking forward!

Please enjoy a few more photos below of Cambodian vehicles!

  

This is a tuk-tuk.  We call this the Garden tuk-tuk because the driver has outfitted it with tons of plants. He's even growing lettuce along the back!  Most tuk-tuks do not have this type of decoration...or much decoration at all.

I told you motos carry cargo!  This guy appears to be transporting a desk.

Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge

This past weekend, I played dodgeball with the Embassy Marines.  As I was walking out the door, my first thought was "Why am I up at 5:45 am on my day off?!" followed by "Why am I voluntarily subjecting myself to playing dodgeball with Marines?!"

Although we did not use the red rubber balls familiar to all of us from gym class days, these were similar rubber missiles capable of inflicting pain.  And as you can see from this action shot of Jeremy, no one was holding back.  Balls were flying with fury around the gym...especially when the Marines were targeting each other.  

But despite balls to the stomach, face, and other sensitive areas (guys-you know what I'm talking about!), we all emerged without major injury.  Although my arm, shoulder, and back were seriously sore the next day.  Thank goodness for the $10 massage parlors on every street of Phnom Penh!