A Kenyan in Cambodia

The 10 Most Instagrammable places in Cambodia that is not Angkor Wat Siem Reap.

2019-04-21T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies,today I want to share some of the most instagrammable places in Cambodia (that is not Angkor Wat), for the everyday person like me who does not have big professional cameras, drones and other fancy equipment haha. Checkout my Instagram maggie_hon I am very active on there.

1. Swimming pools

In Phnom Penh, many hotels will allow you to use their pools if you spend a certain amount of money on food and beverage. Some of the nicer hotels will have a charge to use the pool. Here are some of my favorite pools.

Plantation

DM me on IG for the name of this location.

This one too

The Kabiki

2. The beach

Cambodia has some amazing beaches and islands. Some of my fave pics are:

Otres beach

3. Islands

My favorite island is Koh rong Samloem island. You get there by taking a bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and then a speedboat to Koh Rong Samloem. The views are ridiculously beautiful. Almost unreal.

Koh Rong Samloem Island

4. Kep Cambodia

Kep is a seaside town that has some of the best tasting crabs ive ever eaten. At the market, you can order the crabs, they get caught straight out of the sea and prepared for you on the spot. So fresh and yummy. You can also take a 30 minute boat to Rabbit Island for the day or to spend the night or few nights. Or you can get your friends together and book out a whole villa with a pool like this one:

Rabbit Island

You can have drinks with these views of the sunset at the Sailing club in Kep.

5. Kampot

Kampot is a quiet river side town about 3 hours away from Phnom Penh. There is a lot of accomodation options along the river making this town very picturesque :)

6. Aeon Mall Cambodia

Aeon Mall is the swankiest mall in Cambodia. And guess what, we have two now haha. You can find all clothing stores here, there is a food court,and an amazing cinema called Major cineplex. There are some nice spots for photos here as well.

7. Kiririom National Park

This National Park just a few hours outside town is filled with tall beautiful pine trees that are just begging to be photographed!! You will need to hire a taxi to get here.

Some resorts have amazing pool views.

You also can choose to camp here. There are official camping sites that have facilities,but in this picture, my friends and I just rode around and found a spot in front of the lake and set up camp.

8. Murals

There's a couple of really cool murals and wall grafitti.Check out the Factory and former Lake side for these.

9. Rooftop bars

There are plenty of rooftop bars in Pp, I think ill make a separate post for this. But in the mean time,Rosewood PP is the highest bar right now. Expect to pay alot of money for drinks and make sure to dress smart otherwise they will deny you entry.

10. Brunch

Brunch in Phnom Penh is a favorite with expats. There are some really good spots for brunch. My favorite are Lot 369 in Bang Ken Kang, Khema has a really good buffet brunch as well.

I hope this helps :)

Where to stay in Kampot: The best Hostel/Dorm Room in Kampot, Cambodia

2019-02-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Happy February lovelies! Its @maggie_hon here and today I'd like to talk about a short visit to one of Cambodia's favorite weekend getaway location- Kampot. Kampot is a slow sleepy riverside town about 3 hours outside of Phnom Penh. Its really good for lazing the days away by the river, or doing water sports such as paddle boarding, or exploring caves etc.There are usually parties as well at night so, something for everyone.

On my last trip to Kampot, my five friends and I stayed at a hostel called Karma Traders Kampot. And we were not disappointed! At Karma Traders, there is a choice of 4 bed mixed dorm room, 8 bed mixed dorm room.The dorm rooms are $7 USD per bed, and this price was a steal!! The rooms were clean and spacious. The beds and mattresses were sturdy and the bank beds had a curtain, incase one wanted some privacy. The dorms were ensuite and bathrooms were super clean with hot water and toilet paper provided. If this wasn't enough, there was a bar on the rooftop that had amazing views of the pool downstairs and the jungle surroundings. (Oh did I mention there was a pool?Yup!!) and a restaurant that served up some really good meals and drinks. The breakfast was my fave! The rooftop was a place for other travellers to mingle and hang out. Also they have some pretty dope live music on some nights.

The 4 Bed Mixed Dorm Room. (Photo taken from Karma's website)

maggie_hon

Breakfast on the rooftop bar with the view of the pool below :)maggie_hon

Pool shenanigans :)maggie_hon

View of the pool from the rooftop bar :) (photo taken from Karma's Website)

Karma Traders Kampot is by far the best dorm room/hostel in Kampot, based on the price, amenities, vibe of the place, hygiene, the rooftop bar and that pool?? Get yourself there.

So on this trip my friends and I did explore other places in Kampot.We chilled by the river, ate at different other places, went out drinking etc.Ill put in some of the pictures here.

Do it for the gram hahaha maggie_hon

Its always beer oclock.maggie_hon

Fun times.maggie_hon

How to get back to Blogging after a long break.

2019-01-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Hey lovelies! Oh my word, where do I begin? There is no words to explain why I abandoned this little blog. No matter how bad and silly my writting and content is, I do know that some of the info I put out is important to one or two people. How do I know this you wonder? Well my email address is full of mail from people asking questions or just saying something. oh and by the way I hadnt checked that email (krazykenyan@yahoo.com) in yearrrssss and my heart broke when I saw the emails piled up, of people who's questions were somewhat urgent to their situations. I am really sorry about that.

I still live in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This has become like my home now, all I need is a husband and ill be set..hahah. I go back home to Kenya for two or three months every year. Usually over summer break ie June and July and for christmas in December. Although the last few Christmases I opted to go travelling somewhere instead of going home (except Dec 2018 where I spent Christmass here in PP)

I've travelled to Bali, Vietnam and Penang and as much as i'd like to give info about these places ie where to stay etc, I feel like my info will be outdated and irrelevant right now since it was so many years ago. But I went to Hong Kong in 2018, so I might have some useful information on that. Ill definitely write about it.

Alot has changed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Almost all the places I wrote about here such as restaurants, bars and clubs are irrelevant now due to their closedown, or relocation, or change of name. There has been a huge boom in construction and there is new places popping up every day. New restaurants, bars, shopping malls, high rise apartments, clubs, coffee shops, cafes etc. It is amazing. PP now is almost unrecognizable!! I am glad I get to witness this transformation.

I missed writting on here and I am glad to be back. I promise to write more, atleast one or two posts a week. I will continue writting about my life in Cambodia, my travel adventures and a sprinkle of my fitness struggles haha. And I hope I can share as much useful information as possible. If you want me to write and talk about something specific, please let me know :)

Follow my adventures on Instagram in the meantime.

2017-12-20T00:57:00.000-08:00

Hi lovelies,

I have really neglected this blog, but trust me I am alive lol and still enjoying my time in Cambodia. I promise to get back to blogging regularly but for now follow me on Instagram to see little snippets of my life in Cambodia and some of my travel adventures IG @maggie_hon

A little Break

2015-07-14T09:23:00.002-07:00

Hi lovelies, I apologize for the lack of updates/articles on my little blog. I have been on holiday in Kenya for 6 weeks now and I still have a few more to go. I have some interesting posts for you all once my holiday is over, but for now I am just enjoying every little minute spent with my family, friends and the people close to me :)

Cheers, Maggie

My thoughts on #Blackout #Blackoutday

2015-03-08T01:04:00.004-08:00

Some of you have probably seen the hashtag #blackout or #blackoutday trending on your twitter, facebook, tumblr and instagram newsfeeds. I thought I'd write a really short blog post about this.

Anyway the hashtag was started by T'von, the guy behind this tumblr page. And it is a very simple concept, he invited all black people to take a photo of themselves and hashtag it #blackout or #blackoutday (there's a few other variations). He got inspired to start this because he realized that he does not see lots of black people on a regular basis on his tumblr dashboard (or represented in the media in general). He was, like majority of black people, just tired of seeing the European beauty of standards prevailing and being shoved down our throats left right and center (for centuries now) I am not saying that European/white people are not beautiful, of course they are. What I am saying is that black people are beautiful too, but the European standards of beauty (ESB) excludes black people on all levels as the core features and criteria it uses to determine what beauty is, are always opposite of the features held by black people (read pale skin, slim features, straight hair, small nose). Just go on google images and type in "Beautiful women"!! In clearer terms, the ESB operates on the general assumption and agreement that black people, (especially black women) are ugly. A lot of the times this is not said directly to us but mostly just implied, but other times, it is said very loud and clear, like that time a psychologist asserted that scientifically, black women are uglier and less intelligent than white women. Yes that happened. And let's not forget how we are ridiculed for possessing/wearing some of these features but when a white person does the same, they are praised and glorified for doing it. Recent example when Kylie Jenner spotted dreadlocks on for some photo shoot or whatever, she got praises for it, with various media publications saying that it was a really cool look to try. But when Zendaya. attended the Oscars awards in the same dreadlocks, she was bashed by 'fashion experts' on E! They said she looked like she smelled like weed and other drugs!! It is seriously impossible to make this shit up!

This combined with the fact that there is very little to none positive representation of black people in the media (meaning more often than not, black people are talked about in the media when they have broken the law, have been murdered, have beaten up their wives, etc, mostly just plain negative) strikes a desire amongst black people to create some sort of space where they can feel represented, where they can see other black people, where they can celebrate themselves, where they can be like, dude we are black and we are beautiful, we are capable, we are worthy, we can have aspirations, we can reach for the stars etc . Nobody out there is saying this to us. Currently the only dark skinned person I am seeing being celebrated on the media as being beautiful is Lupita Nyon'go. And I absolutely love that she is there, but it is not enough. So it is almost entirely up to us to say it to each other and to ourselves.

And you know what, this shit is serious. A lot of (marginalized) groups such as black people, women, members of the LGBQT community, people with various diasbilities, etc do not get the representation given to white people, Representation in the media is important. A few reasons why representation is so important are stated in this article. And this study about the same will blow your mind :) (ok maybe not, but seriously, read it!) But basically a lack of representation or a presence of negative representation has obvious negative impact on black children, black people and other marginalised people (basically most non white people).

Soooo #blackout was such a simple but powerful and amazing thing. Scrolling down my instagram and tumblr feed gave me so much joy. To see so many diverse black people coming out, smilling and basically saying, I am here, I am beautiful, was just amazing. Queer black people, fat black people, slim black people, black people rocking afros and other natural hairstyles (hairstyles that are too often depicted as ugly/ghetto/tacky in white media- remember that time when Solange's afro was compared to a dog??) My gosh, such joy.

BUT, ofcourse each time when a group of marginalised people create their own space (due to exclusions in other spaces) the people who excluded them in the first place will come out whining and throwing silly little tantrums that all the attention is now not on them :(When talk of making March 6th #blackoutday was going round social media, some white people of course had a problem with it, saying how come they are not included in the movement, saying black people are being "racist" for doing this bla bla bla. Some of them threatened to spam the hashtag with antiblack/racist things (and they did), some of them decided to start their own hashtag - #whiteout. And you know what, this is whole other topic I am not going to get into right now. But bottomline is, white people do not need this, they are positively represented everywhere, everyday is #whiteout day. Remember after so many young black men being gunned down, the hashtag #blacklivesmatter came about, angering many white people who said that #alllivesmatter, which is true, except it is not a white person being gunned down by police in America every 28 hours!!!

The people who created #blackout have decided to make this a monthly thing, woop woop, and the next #blackoutday is on April 3rd.

#blackout #blackoutday

Goodmorning Phnom Penh- IMPREINT

2015-02-21T23:29:00.001-08:00

Hello lovelies, I had the opportunity to participate in an amazing project called PORTRAITS. The artist behind this project (IMPREINT) painted 1000 balloons a few years ago and while he was doing this, he realised that all the balloons were different, imperfect but all beautiful and just like those balloons, all human beings are different, we are all imperfect, but we are ALL BEAUTIFUL. That's when he decided to do portraits, and invite people from all over the world to get together and participate in it. Thereby making a simple everyday object like a balloon unify us all. Check out his website and facebook page. I am so happy my little blog was featured on his facebook page. Of course together with other amazing blogs.

I absolutely love this project because the concept that we all beautiful regardless of how different we look, regardless of how imperfect we are, really resonates with me. For me the bottom line is we are all human, we are all equal regardless of the fact that there are so many factors that try to segregate us such as race, religion, language, classism, education, poverty, sexual orientation etc. I do believe that we should and can rise above all these and other factors and see each other as equals.

I am so glad that a few of my friends were on board with this concept and were available to meet up and make this happen even though I told them very last minute. I am so glad that my friend Marie- Aude took her time to take these amazing photos.

I chose the Independence monument as the background for this photos as it is a very significant structure in Cambodia.

Here are some links to read up more about this project and the artist behind it:

http://portraitsbyimpreint.tumblr.com/
http://impreintofficial.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/portraits.html

African/ Nigerian Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2015-02-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

Follow my Instagram maggie_hon for snippets of my life in Cambodia and some of my travel adventures.

Hey lovelies, so I will write a couple of late posts that I should have written a million months ago. Late last year I got to go to Malaysia for a weekend getaway with two of my girlfriends and we had so much fun.

My girlfriends I absolutely love African food and African music and I know there is a big African community in Kuala Lumpur, and where there’s an African community, there is bound to be a couple of African Restaurants. And by African restaurants I really mean Nigerian Restaurants :D See in any African Expat community, Nigerians always make up the majority, so in any given country there’s bound to be a couple of Nigerian Restaurants, bars and clubs where Nigerian expats converge, eat Nigerian food and listen to Nigerian music. I love Nigerian food and music and so do a lot of other Africans and people from all over the world. So the first thing I did when planning this trip was to get online and try to find some Nigerian Restaurants in KL to hit up once we were there. Unfortunately I could not find anything (which made me really sad) but it’s all good as we met up with a friend living in KL who knew where all the best Nigerian Restaurants and African bars/clubs were and I could breathe a sigh of relief.

So I decided to write this post as I can imagine there are a million other people out there wondering where to eat delicious Nigerian cuisine, dance to amazing African beats while interacting with people from all over Africa whilst in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

We went to the Restaurant in Sunway Pyramid Mall called Rainforest and i was delighted to see that it was packed with Africans from all different countries. I ordered my favorite Nigerian food which is rice, stew and fried plantain and my friends got a huge plate of egusi and suji to share. It was absolutely delicious. We danced away to Nigerian music and there was no better way to start off our night :)

My beautiful friend about to eat some yummy egusi and suji :)

Right outside Rainforest Bar and Restaurant.

Challenges facing black Africans in Cambodia and SouthEast Asia.

2015-02-03T03:01:00.000-08:00

Hey lovelies, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and happy new year wherever you were. I had an amazing time in Bali Indonesia where I spent Christmas and New Years, and I can't wait to tell you all about that (after I tell you all about my long weekend in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, God am so behinddddd) and I promise it will be soon.

Today I would like to make a short little announcement. I was asked to give a presentation about the challenges facing black Africans here in Cambodia and in Southeast Asia in general, and of course I said yes. See the thing is, being a black in Cambodia is not easy, but being a black African?? maan that shit is hard. The odds are NEVER in your favour, you'll get treated like trash, it is a nightmare to do the simplest of things such as extend your visa, travel etc. Which is really sad as I believe we are all equal. No human being should be treated better or worse than another based ont he color of their skin, or religion, or sexual orientation or none of that. And the other thing is, white expats here in Cambodia have NO CLUE. Absolutely no idea just how good they have it- compared to us of course. Talk about white privilege. When I talk to my western/white friends about these things, their response is usually total disbelief, because they have never gone through any one of the horrible experiences I talk about, yet it is the reality for us black Africans here. And that was one of the main reasons I agreed to do this presentation, to spread awareness.

The wonderful people behind Twelve Tables invited me to talk about these issues. Their vision is to promote respectful dialogue between different cultures and exposing ancient prejudices and ignorant ideals which hinder us from progressing into a sustainable peaceful world. I think they are doing an awesome job.

Click this link to watch a trailer of my presentation TRAILER on their facebook page. The event will be on Friday 6th of February at 6.30pm. The address is st 460 #43 (a few meters from the st 135 cross street) in Russian market/toul tompong area. You can find the map HERE.

I am very excited you guys. I think it will be a lovely very chill out evening :)

UPDATE: The presentation went better than we expected. I was a little nervous of course and could have answered some of the questions I was asked better, but overall it was a successful night. Lots of people showed up and I was excited to talk to some people who were in the audience afterwards. I am glad I played a part in spreading awareness about this horrible issue :)

One of the founders of Atlanta's Edge and I during the Q&A session

Waiting to answer a question from one of the audience members

The Audience

Aww and I got flowers

A little catch up.

2014-12-19T03:05:00.000-08:00

Hey lovelies, its funny how I have sooo much i'd like to write on this little blog, but I just never get around to it. I work longer hours now, so ill definitely need to put more effort in this.

A few things that have happened in the last two months:
*I went to Malaysia for a mini vacation with some lovely ladies and it was lots of fun. I definitely want to go back to Malaysia and explore more :)

*I missed an opportunity to co MC an event here in PP as something waaayyy more important came up, but I have been wondering how I'd have done if I had done it. Would it have been a huge embarrassing flop? Would I have been great at it? hmmmm

*I have somewhat of an idea of what i want to do in the next couple of months- LOL, I know i know this shouldn't be news. Do not judge me if you have it all figured out.

*I started teaching ESL at a University and I am enjoying it. (The other day I showed my students one of those "The Africa you do not see on TV" you tube videos and they all almost lost it!! They were sooo shocked and surprised. They had no idea that Africa had paved roads, tall buildings, cars etc??!!)

*I was asked to do a presentation about racism in Cambodia at a workshop organised by a really cool organisation here. This will happen early next year and I will definitely write about it and give you all the details.

*I have a lot to say about the completely horrendous incidences of females being stripped off their clothes happening in Kenya that prompted the hashtag #mydressmychoice.

*People I know and love have left Phnom Penh making me feel all sorts of ways.

*I went to an Embassy that treated me like a human being and for the first time was not told "Sorry, black people cannot!!"

*And finally, I will be spending Christmas in Bali, Indonesia and I am excited!

I seriously hope to write about some of these things in detail after my Bali trip :)

Happy Holidays to all my readers!! Xoxox

Another weekend in Singapore.

2014-10-19T00:02:00.003-07:00

Kampot was a lovely getaway from Phnom Penh, but I realised that I needed a short getaway from Cambodia. And what better place to go than Singapore?? I love the country plus my lovely friend lives there. So last weekend I took a few days off work and went to Singapore for a long weekend. And this trip was definitely extremely significant to me due to personal reasons :) Singapore is amazing you guys, if you get a chance you should definitely go, but be prepared, it is soooooo expensive and way tooo modern and fancy grrr :)

Singapore, land of the skyscrapers!!

I had no plans of doing touristy stuff, as I did all of that last time I was there, so this time I just kinda hang out, chill and see what Singaporeans and the expats do on weekends. I had fancy afternoon tea at the Fairmont hotel, surrounded by a mixture of expats and giddy Singaporeans all too eager to take photos of the beautiful cakes, scones and sandwiches :)

Afternoon tea at the Fairmont.

Pool time :)

I also went window shopping at the Marina Bay and it was beautiful. All the designer brands you can think of, big or small. They were all there. The prices were ridiculous of course, even for the smaller brands like Steve Madden, like seriously 200 dollars for a pair of heels I can get online for 99 dollars is not cool Singapore!!!

At Marina Bay, there was a "canal" with boats one could hire for a ride and pretend to be in Italy. There was also really cute and extremely fancy cafes and I had some cake and the most delicious tea infused cocktail ever. We also got some macaroons that turned out to be sooo delish :)

Yum

Macarons! Yum.

On sunday night my friend got a group of her friends together and we all went to this monthly music event called Training Shed. It happens at a park, entrance is free but you cannot bring food and drinks fromm outside. And there's Djs and live performances.

I could never get used to paying $10 for a beer!!! Grrrr

Training shed.

Training Shed

It was a great weekend :)

Greenhouse Kampot Weekend Getaway.

2014-10-04T20:35:00.002-07:00

I had an amazing weekend in Kampot last weekend. My very very good friend and her partner will be leaving Cambodia and they organised for their friends to get together and enjoy a fun and relaxing weekend away from the city. Kampot is about 4 hours away from Phnom Penh by the long public buses. If you take a private van or taxi, it could take you as little as two and a half to three hours to get there.

I have been to Kampot many times before but this was the first time I was staying at the The Greenhouse guesthouse. The guesthouse is situated right by the river and my God the view was AMAZING. I swear as I sat on the patio for breakfast, I was blown away by the view that was right in front of me. The river with the hills in the background- it was perfect.

Waiting to order breakfast

I had the best view ever!!! Damnnn

View from the Patio. Isn't this beautiful??

Breakfast with a view!!

Wine at 11 oclock int he morning? Why not :)

Chilling.

My friend and I stayed in the Deluxe Bungalow which had two double beds and a private bathroom for the amazing price of $19. It had a ceiling fan, mosquito net and seriously the freshest smelling bedspreads ever!! We also had a little balcony :) The grounds where the bungalows are spread out are filled with beautiful green plants and flowers as well. The only con about this room is that the only thing separating the beds and bathroom is a very flimsy bamboo/grass wall, which basically meant that using the toilet was not a very private affair. I could see this being sort of awkward if two people who are not really close were sharing this room.

Reminds me of someAfrican traditional huts ;)

The restaurant served up western and khmer dishes and all the food I had there was delicious and cheap and not expensive. Veggie Fried rice was $2.50 and it was a massive portion.

The Greenhouse guesthouse is a little far from the bus station area in Kampot, One way tuk tuk trip to and from the town should be about $5-$7 (I know, kind of expensive, but well worth it).

My friends and I had a wonderful stay here. We spent our days lazing around on the patio drinking wine, ocassionally taking a dip into the river for a cool down, talking, dancing and of course I cannot leave Kampot without having dinner at rusty keyhole- they serve the best ribs in Cambodia and the best BLT sandwich in the world at Epic Arts Cafe :) :) It was a perfect weekend.

Seriously best BLT everrrrrr!!!

Ribs from Rusty Keyhole

The struggle.

2014-09-22T19:07:00.002-07:00

Hi lovelies, Oiiiii sorry for being MIA like that. I hope everyone is doing fine, I am doing well, working, living life in Phnom Penh doing the usual. I haven't been upto much since I last wrote in July. Well I celebrated my birthday in August and it turned out to be one epic night. I am getting old people!! haha

Other than that I find that I have been somewhat struggling with a few things lately. I am beginning to wonder about my future plans, present state etc etc. I wonder if I am really living life to the fullest, if there is more I can do to add a little bit more adventure into my life. I have been asking myself what it is I really want to do. Do I want to continue living in Cambodia? If so, for how long? and why? What more can Cambodia offer me...oh boy is that you quarter life crisis???

Do not get me wrong, I LOVE Cambodia. It is while living here in Cambodia that I really grew up. It is here in Cambodia that I have learned some of the hardest life lessons. It is here that I have met amazing people, people that I have formed bonds with that I think will last a lifetime. It is here that I have met people who made me challenge some of the beliefs that I had (especially religious beliefs). It is here that my eyes were opened to some of the evils of the world. It is here that I realised just how proud of my African/black heritage I am.It is while here in Cambodia I decided to cut off my chemically straightened hair, and decided to keep my hair in its natural state, which for me was a small way of saying eff your beauty standards world. It is while living here in Cambodia that I went through what I call "my awakening phase" LOL and learned about all the things I am so passionate about now, such as racism, feminism, white privilege, male privilege, thin privilege, fat discrimination. It is here that I learned exactly how white supremacy works. (I am still a newbie in all these issues, but everyday I am learning) I learned about what is really happening to Africa, all the looting of our resources by the West in cahoots with the corrupt leaders they back up. I learned why it is very important to the west that most of Africa(and the world actually) remains plagued with war and instability. I know now that they do not give a single shit about Africans, which is very funny, coz growing up back in Africa we had the mentality that the white man is "good" and is helping us. I see that mentality still when the other day I was watching the news and these Liberians were being interviewed and they were just gushing at how happy they were coz Obama has said he is sending "help" to deal with ebola. That made me chuckle. I learned that America is not the land of milk and honey as it is made out to be. It is not the land of the free, it is not the land of freedom and democracy. Oh the lies we have lived in. It is while living in Cambodia I learned about all the wars funded by the west, about how they use the media as a huge propaganda machine etc. It is here in Cambodia that I interacted with people from all over the world, Asians, South Americans, Europeans, other Africans, Americans, Britons, people from all over, and I very quickly realised that what they think about Africa was absolutely ridiculous and at times even insulting. The sheer ignorance was a bit too much to understand sometimes. People who cannot name a single musician or song from any of the 54 countries in Africa, but will give you shit for not knowing every word of the bohemian rhapsody. The audacity. The superiority they feel over you could be felt in their very subtle, very casual condescending comments , haha. (obviously not everyone I have met has been like this) It is here that I learned some dangers of voluntourism and white savior mentality. I have learned that everyone I thought I knew about poverty was basically a lie. Poverty is alot more than 'lazy people', Poverty is a complicated monster and it is at the very least a political issue. I realised my passion for travel while living here in Cambodia, but very quickly realised that if you are a black person holding an African passport, the odds of getting visas even to the simplest of countries are so much against you it is not even a joke!!! I could say more about this, but ill leave that for another post.

Learning about all these things has changed the way I view the world. The way I think, the way I analyze situations, the way I react to international news. Learning all these things has changed me as a person in ways I doubt id have changed had I never left Kenya. I will forever treasure Cambodia for this. But I have been struggling. Struggling with the fact that maybe, just maybe my time here is coming to a close end. No I am not saying I am leaving any time soon. I am just saying the thought of leaving is popping into my head a lot more often nowadays.

Breakfasts in Cambodia. #100daysfhealthybreakfasts

2014-07-22T22:49:00.001-07:00

Hi lovelies, I am sure some of you have seen the hashtag #100happydays OR #100daysofhappiness going around facebook, pinterest and instagram (and am sure twitter too). The 100 happy days project started as a challenge I guess and was made popular by people who took up the challenge. There was a little controversy/issues with some people who thought the challenge was to try and be 100% happy for the whole 100 days. I think that is absolutely impossible. I think the idea behind it is to find one thing everyday that made you happy. It could be small things like your morning coffee, lack of traffic etc to large things like taking a trip etc.

Anyway I did not do this challenge since one of my New Year's resolution in 2014 was to appreciate things in my life more and more and complain less. And anyway I noticed that some people took this 100 happy days thing as an excuse to basically brag and gloat all over social media lol.

So I came up with my own 100days challenge :) I was going to try and eat a healthy breakfast everyday for a 100 days :) How about that? I never cook or eat breakfast at home. I usually just grab something on my way to work. My favorite breakfast in Cambodia is the popular rice and pork the locals absolutely love. And it is delicious! It is basically white rice with some grilled pork, a little fried egg and pickled veggies on the side. Did I say how delicious it is? And for only a dollar or less. And I was hooked on it.

Pork rice :) Heaven!!

Other than pork rice, Cambodians eat fried noodles/rice noodle with fried egg for breakfast (among many other things) as well and I love me some fried noodles and so I ate this sometimes. And other times I just grabbed a frappe at one of the coffee shops, Brown coffee shop being my favorite, and a pastry to go with it. So all in all I was starting my day in such an unhealthy way, and I thought it might be a good idea if I made an effort to eat something healthy for breakfast.

Caramel frappe from brown-my favorite.

Fried rice noodles with veggies and fried egg.

That's how my new challenge and hash tag came about #100daysofhealthybreakfasts :) And I am so happy I decided to challenge myself in this way. I have been having lots of fun doing this. I must admit that there has been a few days here and there where I haven't eaten a healthy breakfast (I caved and had a pork rice haha) but I do not beat myself up for it.

I have been making smoothies , coz I realised I absolutely love fruit smoothies. I usually use a fruit, a little yogurt and some ice cubes. Sometimes I use more ingredients for different fruits and sometimes I even make veggie smoothies or green smoothies. Other mornings I'll have whole bran flaskes, other mornings ill have oatmeal.

Green smoothie.

Mango smoothie :)

Most mornings I have a large coconut/coconut water or two. In PP there is people selling coconuts that are walking around and shouting "Coconut!!"in Khmer, which is "Doung!!" So when the coconut guy is walking past my house I usually buy a coconut. I always ask him to give me only the coconut water in a separate plastic bag, then cut the coconut in half for me, then ill take the inside of the coconut and snack on it or store it and use it for my fruit smoothies.

Coconut guy outside my house

I am glad I decided to take up this challenge :) Who knows, I might even eat healthy lunches and dinners in future :)

ESSIE Fashion Show.

2014-07-14T03:18:00.003-07:00

Hi lovelies, so last week Tuesday I went to a fashion show at CodeRED. I had fun. Cambodia's Fashion Scene is getting bigger and more diverse every year. When I first got here (a million years ago) there was barely a fashion scene, but now there's been more and more Fashion Shows/ Fashion related events such as the Designer's week, Cambodia Fashion Week and let's not forget the (now annual) Glamazon Fashion Event which is created by The dollhouse at NagaWorld. There's more and more designers who are doing a pretty good job, and who are taking every opportunity there is to show case their work and to open up their stores/boutiques, there's a few international brands setting up shop in Phnom Penh etc etc.

There was a red carpet at the entrance :)

Now, I am not a very stylish person (some people would say I have zero style seeing as am always in flat shoes/flip flops, tights and flowy tops) but sometimes Cambodia does that to you ...ok I wasn't stylish before moving to Cambodia even lol, BUT any chances of me ever being a stylish person died when I came here, lol. This is because, first of all, I work with 2-4 year olds, I am covered in at least one of their body fluids, if not all! So I love to spend my days in comfortable easy to wash, cheap clothing that I buy at the Russian market, thank you very much. And the heat! My God, the heat in Cambodia makes sure that my face, back and everywhere else- especially my face- is constantly covered in sweat. Is it a disgusting sight? Yes, but can I do anything about it it? No. So very comfortable absorbent materials are very very necessary when choosing my clothes. And what about hoping on moto bikes all day long?? Nobody has time for fancy dresses and shit, tights and leggings all the way baby :) And what of all the flooding?? flip flops my loves, or flat shoes that always come in handy when I am dancing nights away on the dance floor as well. I do wear heels sometimes, but on rare occasions only :) Make up? Did I tell you about the sweaty mess that's my face? Yeah, lip balm always does the trick, or once in a while ill see my friend putting on make up and ask her to do me...but that's like 3-4 times a year :)

The models.

So it goes without saying that I do not go all gogo gaga for fashion events and what not and so when my friends invited me to the Essie Fashion show, the first thing I thought was shit- what am I going to wear. No wait, that was the second. The first was- Great I am going to be surrounded by a bunch of people whose thighs were smaller than my arm! ( That was the case by the way LOL) But I decided to go anyway.

I was pleasantly surprised that I actually liked alot of the pieces. And the runway models were a mixture of Cambodians and a few expats which was a lovely surprise as I expected all the models to be stick thin- as is the usual in most fashion shows. Also at the end of the show all the pieces and others were on sale with a whooping 50-70% discount. Although most of these were beautiful, I doubt they had anything in my size. Cambodia is just isn't there yet.

The designer.

After the fashion show we all got to dancing and I actually had lots of fun. Did I mention I was sat on the front row? lol, I know this is not a big deal, but it felt good, dono why :)

Me and a friend.

Me and my friend- who was one of the models for the night.

All pictures courtesy of Jeremie Montessuis of Film Noir Studio.
Catch me tonight at Score Bar for Nerd Night :)
Cheers.

NIghts Out in Phnom Penh: Ladies night at CodeRED.

2014-07-06T18:28:00.002-07:00

Hi lovelies, I went to my first ladies night at codeRED last Thursday and I loved it. They have really cool deals and specials for ladies night. First off, all cocktails are half price for ladies, slashed from $4.50 to $2.25...awesome ay? Then every group of five or more ladies gets a FREE bottle of vodka or whiskey! Say whaaaattttt?(You pay for the mixers though) Yes, that's a really good deal :D BUT since it's Thursday, it's a little tricky to convince your girls to go out clubbing..unless your friends are like my friends and love a good party :)

My ladies ready to #turnup

Initially there was only four of us LOL and but later other friends came and joined us. We had such a good time. The DJ was playing a mix of hip hop, RnB and dancehall which is just what I love dancing to. I do not know about other ladies nights but this particular one was called The Medusa Ladies Night and there was a show, two dances and one Bokator perfomance. Bokator is a form of Cambodian Martial arts. It was a good night dancing and laughing with my ladies.

All photos courtesy of Lion Media.

Sidenote: I am really loving the club CodeRED, so far( as a black person) I have ha nothing but good experience from them. I always see lots of black people there booking tables and ordering bottle service, having fn and enjoying themselves in peace. CodeRED is a breath of fresh air away from racist Pontoon. I hope this doesn't change.

Weekend in Singapore.

2014-06-26T02:47:00.002-07:00

Hi lovelies, hope you are doing well. Thank you for all the emails at krazykenyan@yahoo.com to check up on me and to talk about my last post. Thanks for all the kind words, it warms my heart :) Oh btw who watched the Nigeria vs Argentina match yesterday? Whoooa my friend organised a group of Africans-mostly Nigerians to go to Score Bar to watch it live, and again I had so much fun watching it!! Although they lost 2:3, they played quite well. It was an awesome night :) Today I want to do a quick catch up post about when I went to Singapore for a weekend last year. It will be short but picture heavy :)

I find Singapore a very interesting country. It is quite small, one of the smallest countries in the world, and I also find the fact that it went from being a third world country to a first in literally about 50 years quite mind boggling! Singapore is very modern, I knew this before I went, but I was not prepared for what I saw. The first thing you notice is the airport. Changi airport is massive and very very modern. There's game rooms inside, movie theaters, very fast wifi etc. Once you leave the airport the next thing you notice is just how extremely clean this place is. I mean, it was crazy. Also you notice the cars...there are no old cars in Singapore. I think one can only keep their car for 10yrs or something ridiculous like that. There's very strict laws here that are enforced without hesitation. For smaller things like spitting in public, not flushing a public toilet, littering or chewing gum, people are just fined. But they are fines shit loads, like $500-$2000 depending on what it is. And there are cameras everywhere, that's how they keep watch on these. For other crimes such as petty theft etc people get caned! Yes, caned! And it is some serious canning coz I heard people usually faint :0 For bigger crime such as drugs and murder etc, they get the death penalty, as in this place is no joke. But all this has definitely paid off as it is one of the cleanest and safest countries on earth.

The other thing I noticed was just how expensive Singapore is. My God. Coming from Cambodia where I live in a 3 bedroom house for only $200, to see people living in just a room in a shared apartment paying almost $2000 for it seemed ridiculous. And not only the rent was expensive, but drinks too. I went out with a friend and couldn't believe the prices on drinks. It was ridiculous. The cheapest mug of beer we got was $8!! What? I could get that for $0.50 in Cambodia lol.

$98 Singapore dollars is $78 USD. I could get a tower of beer for $10 in Cambodia!!!

$48 Singapore dollars for a cocktail??? Thats $38 USD btw!!

Coming from Cambodia, many times it felt strange to be in Singapore, coz these two are polar opposites. All the skyscrapers...and the fact that I did not see any poverty in Singapore. I kept insisting to my friend to take me and show me the "horrible" parts of town, but I was astonished to see the cheap building areas were just as good and clean as the other places, wow. Also there were so many malls in Singapore. Seriously, mall after mall after mall, and these malls are big, as in HUGE malls. And sometimes you could use some underground stairs or what not and end up in another mall...sometimes I felt like I was in one big mall. Also the number of designer outlets was ridiculous. Any designer label you could think of is there, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, etc etc. And people actually buy these stuff..every few seconds I saw someone with a legit designer label as part of their dressing...either shoes or clothes or handbags etc.

Look at that bus!!!

I did not do much while I was there, I did explore Singaporean food at the many and cheap food courts, I went to little India- which was crazy coz I do not think I have seen that many men in one area ever. If I was alone i would have been a little scared- although there's no reason to be. I went to the bird park. I went to see the Merlion which is a statue of a lion head with a fish body. It is the symbol of Singapore. I walked a lot.

My friend and I met up with a big group of expats and we did a pub crawl. I met really amazing people from all walks of life and got to experience the Singapore night life with them. We went to several bars one of which was the cold room- or something like that. It was seriously soooo cold inside it some people had to have on jackets :)

I had so much fun in Singapore, and since this is one of the very few countries that is visa free for Kenyans, I will definitely go back again and again and again :)

Racism in Cambodia/Nights Out in Phnom Penh: Being asked to pay the bill at Gunpoint + Being turned away from Pontoon Nightclub

2014-06-21T21:32:00.001-07:00

Hey lovelies, so yeah, remember when I said I'll be writing a series titled 'Nights out in Phnom Penh' just to give an idea of what the expat night life in PP is like? Yeah well last night my friends and I had a not so awesome night out. I really wish this post was about the awesome night out I had last Saturday (14th June), my friends and I went bar hopping before ending up at CodeREd Nightclub where the Stanton Warriors were playing that night- Epic night by the way.

I really wish this post was about last Wednesday (18th June) where I attended an event called Laughing Out Loud, at the same venue- CodeREd-which was organised by my Nigerian friend and basically brought a lot of Africans and other expats (but mostly black Africans) together for a night of performances, music and dance followed by some serious dancing to African beats on the dance floor after the event.

I really wish this post was about this past Friday (2oth June) which was my friend's birthday and we did dinner, drinks and a little dancing at CodeRed then Pontoon Night clubs, but noooo, this is a post about last night- Saturday 21st June 2014 where my night out was interrupted by some really horrible shit here in Phnom Penh Cambodia.

Yesterday was my friend's birthday (let's call her Jane)- she's a black African, and she booked a Cambodian restaurant as the venue to have the party at. This venue is around the Russian Market area although I do not know it's name as it is written in Khmer. It is popular with Africans for some reason, coz this was the 3rd time I was here for an African party. Anyway I get there, and first thing I noticed was that there was a big group of Cambodians eating and drinking on one side of the restaurant, and then the Africans drinking on the other side. I thought that was weird coz the two previous times I had been here the whole place was booked out ..but anyway. I later asked Jane what's the deal with Africans one side and Cambodians the other lol and she said that she had booked out the place, but when she asked the owners what's up with the group of Cambodians, the owner had said that she only booked half the restaurant so they booked out the other half to these Cambodians haha. Jane was not happy about this coz she was under the impression that she booked out the whole place for a few hours. So she asks why then did she pay full price for half a restaurant and the owners say that the price she paid was for half the restaurant haha( No seriously this is some ridiculous funny shit though, right? ) Now we all knew that that was not true since one of our other friends who had booked out this place previously for a party was there, so she could tell us what amount she paid for the whole venue, but she also said that these were definitely not the owners she dealt with during her party...so probably new owners...Anyway we all tell Jane to calm down and that it doesn't matter coz we are still going to have a good time. Everything calmed down but later when the DJ started to play African music(which was part of the deal) and the owners refused haha. And what's an African party with no African music right?After talking to them they said ok ok play your fucking music haha. and after that the night was awesome. We ate, drunk and danced and around 11.30 pm people started leaving, but myself and two other ladies were waiting for Jane so that we could all go somewhere else for some dancing. When the clock hit midnight (Jane had booked the place till midnight) the music stopped abruptly and I noticed a few mean looking Cambodians around. At this point there was only like 10 of us, five sat down at a table, Jane was sorting out the bill and the others had started packing up stuff. The mean looking Cambodians- 11 of them- yes I counted, came up to us sat at the table and one of them said that we should all get up and leave, and am like Ooooook? And so we stand up. And I realised these guys are fucking police men in plain clothes- coz I could see their guns and walkie talkies and shit. And one of them was in a green uniform and had a huge ass gun slung across his chest. These guys meant business haha.

So I quietly asked my friends, are these actual fucking policemen? Coz I was shocked, well Jane was definitely not having none of the intimidation, she said that it doesn't matter whether they were policemen coz she has done nothing wrong..which is true and all, but my ass was scared at this point. Long story short these guys basically started saying we should pay $50 for an outstanding bill, and Jane was all confused at what bill they were talking about because when she booked the place, they agreed on a package deal where the venue and amount of drinks was already discussed beforehand and a fixed price agreed upon with the owners of this place. And she had JUST paid that agreed upon fixed price like 2 seconds before all these and was even holding the receipt. They said that some people had ordered extra bottles of water!!Anyway these policemen were very nasty and threatening,especially the one who was doing all the talking-in very good English actually. And remember these are 11 men, 3 with hand guns in plain view, and one with a huge ass gun slung across his shoulder resting on his chest,which he now held with two hands as if ready for...God knows what?? Ok really this was getting ridiculous and dangerous, 6 black guys, 4 black girls unarmed, versus 11 Cambodian police men,4 of them with actual fucking guns??

I told Jane and the other black guys we were with that let's just pay the fucking $50 and get away from here...coz I was feeling all kinds of uncomfortable!!God. I remembered when I went to Bangkok a few years back, a similar scenario happened and that ended badly.Asian men,in my experience,are very timid people, so whenever I see them being all up in the face of a foreigner, I know they are pretty much ready for shit to go down. Mind you even the size alone of these two groups- the Cambodian policemen were short, thin and tiny, compared to my black guy friends who were all super tall and generally really big, wayyyy bigger than these Cambodians! At one point during the discussion the policeman shouted at one of the guys in front of him "Oh you look at me?? You look at me??" That was fucking scary and that was my cue to run and hide HAHA, so I literally started walking down the street and away from all of these, one of my girlfriend saw me and followed me and I stood behind an SUV parked a few meters from where everyone else was. I was half expecting to hear gun shots. At this point, people have started getting out onto their balconies to look onto the street at all the commotion and I am completely scared something bad will happen. Anyway they get the $50 dollars and we all get in tuk tuks and leave.

I would like to say that, whatever, maybe people did actually order $50 worth of water during the few hours we were there, that's beside the point, the point is the way this whole thing was handled. Seriously? Calling 11 policemen on us? some of them armed with guns, being all nasty and threatening and intimidating? REally? I do not think that was necessary, especially considering that nothing actually happened- you know there was no fight that broke out, we did not get rowdy, nobody was drunk and unruly..I mean, this was sooo uncalled for. Also please note that nothing like this has happened in all my 5 years living in PP,so am thinking this is a fluke. No I am hoping to God that this was a one in a billion fluke.

I couldn't help but wonder, why were these policemen called on us? No like really, why? To extract $50 from us? REally? That amount seems so little, if they split it, it comes to about $5 each, yeah? And I couldn't help but wonder, if we were a group of chinese expats, would this have happened? If we were a group of white expats, would this have happened? Did they do this coz we were black? Has this ever happened to a group of white expats? ( It's happened to me twice now) Shit man..

WE did not let this put a damper in Jane's Birthday night plans so we head straight to Pontoon club on st 51, and guess what, as we are getting in line to pay the cover charge and go in, the security guys at the door tell us that the ladies can go in, but the men cannot!! Am like REALLY?? REALLLY!!! I ask the guy why not? And he says "Oh am sorry it's the rule of the club not to allow black men in." So I talk to this guy in Khmer- like they recognize me for sure, and he says to me, ok we can allow 2 men to go in, but only 2. So we decide, fuck that, we cross the street and go into Nomad bar where we were served really well...we danced our hearts out, played some pool and ended up having a lovely night after all. So all in all a very interesting night, don't you think?

But maaaaan, I had a "Why the fuck am I in Cambodia" moment like a million times that night.

Watching the World Cup in Phnom Penh at Score Bar.

2014-06-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

Helloooo lovelies! So the World Cup is onnn!! Woohooo. What an amazing time to be patriotic, watch games with friends over some beers and generally have lots of fun while rooting for your favorite teams, yeah? Well unfortunately it is also a time where people get to be super racist and xenophobic and my friend wrote about it here. It's a short but very good read, so click on that link :)

On Monday I went to Nerd Night- which is an amazing event where 3-4 people get to talk about something they are nerdy or passionate about. These people use power-point slides and are allowed 20 seconds per slide for 20 slides. The event is held once every two weeks on a different location each time, and anyone can do a presentation, all you need to do is contact the organizers by email or through their facebook page.This week Nerd Night was held at Score Bar which is basically one of the best sports bar in Phnom Penh which is open 24 hours and is playing all the World Cup matches live. There's a big screen and other smaller TVs all over the bar to watch from. Anyway during the Nerd Night presentations, I found out that Nigeria was playing against Iran that night at 2am. I really wanted to watch that so I decided to stay on after the presentations-which ended at around 10pm- and wait for the match. But first I had to watch the German/Portugal match...

Now I am going to be honest and just admit that I literally know NOTHING about football. As in it is embarrassing how little (or nothing) I know about football. I am the true definition of the blonde bimbo when it comes to football. I ask questions that make people's jaws drop coz of the sheer ignorance- yeah I do! Only my boyfriend can stand my questions, and that's only because he loves me, otherwise not many people would haha. I know so little about it that I really didn't care who won Germany? Portugal? No idea. BUT I ended up supporting Portugal coz that's what my lovely friend was supporting! I know, I know, guys don't hate me plsss...just take as I am lol.

Anyway I still had a good time. The place was packed to the maximum...the Germans/ German supporters had on white jerseys, and the atmosphere was fiery. The cheers at the goals, the gasps at the near goals, all the beer..it was awesome!! I took a few horrible pictures on my phone :)

Anyway after the match alot of the people left and there was only a handful of people watching the Nigerian game. Partly because it started at 2am and most people work the next day and mostly coz not many Nigerians and Iranians were there to watch. BUT I was there!! With a handful of Nigerians and my God I had an awesome time!! No, the game was rubbish, but watching it was soooo cool. I LOVE Nigerians, they're up there on top of the list of my favorite peoples ;) There is something about these people!! First is their language/accent. Most Nigerians speak Pidgin English as a second language and maaaan I lov it. Pidgin English is basically a mix of some English words, some other words and basically very bad grammar...to make something that sounds like English, but isn't quite English. I have picked up a lot of pidgin, so I can basically understand a lot of it, I can also speak some of it, but not quite well. But am just glad I can understand coz I think it is brilliant, and it makes everything soooo fun and funny :) at least to me :) But other than their pidgin English and awesome accents, Nigerians are funny, they are hard working, they help each other, they are the most hopeful people I have ever met, they have a very rich culture that they are so very proud of, they have unique food, their banter between each other is sooo interesting :) They are passionate people, they are persistent (sometimes a little too persistent ;) ) They see opportunities and go for them. And for all of these, I just love these people.

Anyway, a few pidgin words and sentences and their translation to English to give an idea of what am talking about :

How you dey- How are you doing.
I dey fine- I am fine/ I'm doing well
How far- Hi
Wetin- What
I no no- I don't know
Wetin dey happen- What's happening/What's going on
I wan chop- I want to eat
I no agree- I do not agree/ I disagree
I go land you slap- I will slap you
Na so e suppose be- That is how it's supposed to be.

So I totally enjoyed sitting down with these passionate Nigerians watching the Nigerian team play horribly. My Nigerian friends were not happy and my God, their expression of this (using pidgin English), their accents and overall their Nigerian quirkiness just made ME sooooo happy (I know that makes me sound so bad, but I can't help it) I laughed so hard- they were laughing too at times- and although I do not really care about football...I had a blast!!

I can't wait for the next game against...Argentina?? Oh God, unless they've played already!!

Ps. I've got a couple of pictures, but my computer is being such an ass right now....so ill add them up later :)

A lovely Market Day in Phnom Penh

2014-06-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hi lovelies, this morning I woke up early and in such a good mood (I love it when that happens). Since I've been on holiday, I've still been waking up early as usual but lately my body is starting to realize that we actually don't need to be anywhere..lol So I have enjoyed a few late mornings, well except today. So anyway, after the usual going through my phone with one eye open (y'all do that too!!!) I got up, put on some music and danced my heart out for nearly 30 minutes! Don't ask me why I did that lol, I love dancing and sometimes I can't control the urge. Anyway after a quick shower I went out to Russian/Toul Tom Pong market for my weekly grocery shopping. I loooooove going to the market in the morning (this was around 7.30am) coz then the produce is fresh, the smell is fresh (except the meat section) no actually even the meat section smells better in the morning than in the afternoon :D. I have had some bad experiences at the markets here...remember when that woman called me evil coz I was black? but I have also had some awesome experiences there too. Like today, I was in such a good mood, I was talking to all the women in the market who talked to me, I was engaging in very positive conversation, I even entertained all the questions that I normally ignore such as "Are you black because Africa is soooooo hot? Hotter than everywhere else?" No maam, actually where I come from-Nairobi, Kenya, the weather is actually cooler than Cambodia!! -They never believe me anyway LOL.

Ah these market women :) Today I wanted to buy some sweet potatoes, but I do not know how to say sweet potato in Khmer :( I know how to say potato, as in Irish potato, but I do not know how to say sweet potato. So I was trying to tell my lovely market women friends what I wanted and they couldn't figure it out lol, they showed me the taro, but naa that wasn't it, and it is funny coz then all the women near where I was standing worked together- by asking the next stall and the next each showing me what they thought I was looking for, UNTIL I finally saw some sweet potatoes, squealed in utter joy and said that was exactly what I wanted!!They all were happy for me. I was so happy haha. I said goodbye and off I went. All the tuk tuk and moto bike guys who said to me "Tuk tuk lady?" and "moto lady?" were met with a warm smile and a polite no from me and even a little chit chat( huh who knew) as opposed to my usual response which is, shake my head and not even look at them. This may sound rude to anyone who hasn't been to PP, but trust me, after being asked a million and one times, by one after the other after the other, shaking your head is a pretty good response.

All around the Russian Market there's the ladies or men in bicycles who sell really ripe and sweet pineapple. I picked up two for a dollar, score! And my shopping was done. I gladly hopped on a moto, went home, made fruit shake for breakfast and started on my meal prep for the week. Such a good way to start the day :D

Ill be at Nerd Night tonight, so if you see me, come and say hi :D

Things you can do in PP with a $5 dollar budget.

2014-06-04T22:47:00.000-07:00

My lovely readers, I hope you're all doing very well. I have just started my summer vacation, so I am enjoying doing lots of nothing at the moment. I see myself going to lounge by the beach soon :) Anyway I wanted to write a short post I have been thinking about. Ok so there was a time I was jobless for a good few months, and I had to stretch a dollar as far as it could go in order to survive haha. And during this time I learned a lot. I learned just how little one can spend out in PP, if need be. I usually had a budget of $5. Yes I said $5. And I managed to do a few things with only $5. Did I wish I had more to spend? Yes, but you know what it wasn't so bad. I usually use these tricks even now when I am trying to save up for something, or if I go on holiday and spend way more than I should have lol- it happens right?

Now before I say what these activities are, the $5 does include transport...but only $1 each way (from your house and back) and this works for me, coz I use motodops mostly and the activities are close to my house in a way the moto guys will take $1. If not I usually walk a little and be patient and usually get a ride for $1. My Khmer helps too ;) Now sometimes I do not spend the whole $5, and whatever leftover is saved for the next time I might need a little extra dollar or two or half. So the following activities will range from $3- $6.50

Ok...here goes:

1. Go watch a movie at Legend Cinemas. A ticket for 3D movies costs $5-6- way too expensive for me. So what I do is wait a couple of weeks when they have "Éarly bird and late night owl" offers where tickets are half price (or couple of dollars off). So transport from home and back, $2 movie ticket-$3 for 3D or $2 for 2D. No pocorn/soda. Total: $4 or $5

At Legend Cinemas, sometime last year :)

2. Go watch movies for a whole afternoon (or evening) at The Flicks. The flicks is a community movie house that screens a variety of films. A few(but rarely) block busters and a lot of films that have made it in various film festivals. It has a comfy viewing room with pillows you can lie on as you watch the movies, but the best thing is the price. For only $3.50 you get a whole day's pass to watch all the movies they are screening that day :) which is usually three movies on a weekday and five movies on the weekend :) Total $5.50

3. Go have lunch at Chinese Noodle Restaurant on Monivong. This is one cheap restaurant in Phnom Penh where you you will find everybody! Locals, NGO workers, Teachers, Journalists, Chinese businessmen...everybody, because it is that good :) The food here is simply delicious, and cheap. I usually get a huge plate of fried noodles with beef for $2 and sometimes fried dumplings that I usually share with whoever am having lunch with- coz they're too many. Total $4

If you have not been to Chinese Noodle....get there NOW!! This is delicious!

4. Go have some Cambodian street food lunch inside the Russian/Toul Tompong Market. This is really popular with expats actually, especially on the weekend. I looooove the food in here, it is delicious and cheap :) I live close by so I pay $1 both ways. And a plate of fresh noodles with spring rolls is $1.25. Sometimes I throw in delicious strawberry or avocado smoothie for $1.75 and then I have to walk around coz then am too stuffed! Total $2.25- $4

Fresh noodles and strawberry smoothies inside Russian Market.

5. Go have ice cream at Swensen's with your friends at the mall. The nearest mall to my house is Sovana Mall, transport is $1 both ways, then a scoop of ice cream is $0.75. Total $1.75 OR one of my favorites: Go have frozen yogurt at Snow yogurt at the mall as well , $1 for transport and a small cup with some toppings is around $3. Total $4

Yay frozen yogurt :)

6. Go swimming, use the sauna jacuzzi and steam room, do an aerobics class and use the gym at PP sports club. A day's pass at this sports club is $5 and with that you can use ALL the facilities for the day. I absolutely love this! I usually go pretty early if I want to spend a day here, say 11 noon. I'll swim, relax in both the hot and freezing cold jacuzzi, use the sauna and steam room, then at 5 pm ill join in the aerobics class which is lots of fun coz it's 30 minutes aerobics and 30 minutes Khmer dance. PP Sports club is 15 minutes walk away from my house, and sometimes I walk there or sometimes I get a moto for $0.30 one way. BUT this place is popular with the locals, so the stares I get here are insane :) Total $5- $6

7. Go swimming with friends at a hotel. If I want to just chill by the pool with a book and avoid a million and one stares, I opt to go to the many many hotels here in PP that let you use the pool if you buy something at their restaurant. Total $5- $6

Fat thighs at the pool :)

Beer and books go well together..I think...

8. Go for happy hour cocktails at Touk bar on Riverside, corner of st 178 and Sisowath Quay opposite FCC. Touk bar is one of my go to bars for delicious cheap cocktails here in PP. Everyday from 5.30- 7.30 pm, their cocktails are half price :) at $2. The location is a bit far from my house, so I usually pay about $1.25 there and back. Plus two cocktails..Total $6.50

Yummy $2 cocktails at TOUK.

9. Go have some happy hour beers with friends. Say at liquid, transport $2 and three beers for $0.75 each. Total $4.25

$0.75 beer. sigh

10. Go get a mani pedi at the ground floor saloon near Lucky Supermarket at Sovana Mall. They do a good job, and its $5 for a mani pedi :) Total $6.

There you go guys, welcome to my life of cheap cheap cheap :D

Nights out in Phnom Penh: Liquid, Stonegrill and Chez Rina.

2014-05-29T01:23:00.005-07:00

Phnom Penh has an amazing night life. Amazing because there is something for everyone. If you are a high roller and wants to drink high end cocktails, eat super expensive food, dance the night away with other high rollers...there is something for you. If you are a mid range kind of person who doesn't want to spend too much on a meal and drinks, but also doesn't want to go somewhere full of backpackers, there is something for you. If you are a cheap kind of person that wants to spend as little as possible on food and drink and doesn't mind that you are not rubbing shoulders with diplomats etc, don't mind doing balloons with a few backpackers, there is something for you. Now now I am very cheap, I try to spend as little as possible when I go out (when I was jobless for like 8 months, I learned how to be cheap lol) I do indulge once in a while, usually in expensive bars but not expensive/high end restaurants, but as a teacher, my salary does not allow me to consistently eat and drink in expensive places, which is fine by me coz to be honest it really doesn't matter to me as I do not have a particular interest in fine dining.

Anyway a typical night out for me always starts out at a bar(or restaurant) where ill meet my friends and we can sort of have a drink or two, catch up and then decide where we will go next. My friends and I go to bar is Liquid on st 278 next to Equinox. It is not the greatest bar in PP, it does not have the best drinks in PP, I have had a few near death experiences involving cockroaches in there, but for some weird reason, this is our go to bar, Liquid to us, is what McLarens pub is for Barney, Robin, Ted etc. We just meet there often, for mid week drinks, for a quick one hour drink, or mostly for our start of the night.

Liquid

So on this particular night ( a few weeks ago) my friend and I met at Liquid for a cocktail,on a Monday, then we decided to go to Stonegrill for dinner, we were going to meet our other friend there. Stonegrill is on riverside opposite brown cafe. It is a little on the high end side, so this was a rare rare rare thing for me to do :) I have been to Stonegrill once before for my birthday last year. They serve up a huge monster cocktail for $20 (again rare occasion, am all for $2 cocktails normally) plus they have a good buy one get one free deal for happy hour.

Monster cocktail at stonegrill(last year)

Monster cocktail fit for the birthday girl :)

The place looks really nice, with views of the river. On this occasion we decided to try their steaks that come on a hot stone and you kinda cook it yourself. It was fun. We each got a steak, a bottle of wine to share and 2 side dishes and the bill came up to about $130 (yikes) But the food was delicious.

After dinner we were in for another cocktail and we decided to check out the new ish Chez Rina as it was just across the road from Stonegrill. It was my second time at Chez Rina and I absolutely love it. It is a cocktail lounge on a restored French colonial building. Their drinks list is not long but the few drinks they offer there are made almost perfectly. Cocktails are $5 each and there is no happy hour deals :(

Since it was a Monday, we called it a night after two cocktails, very boring I know, haha but I will write more about my typical nights out in the future :)

Island Getaway: Koh Rong

2014-05-28T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hi beautiful people, remember how I said Ill do a few catch up posts? Well this is one of them. I went to Koh Rong last year in April, it was my second island to visit here in Cambodia, and it is then I fell in love with Islands. The crystal clear water, the white sand, the lack of huge crowds of people...the list goes on.

Now I have heard that a lot has changed in Koh Rong and that it is not the somewhat quiet, clean, island that it was a year ago, so I will refrain from saying much about my stay there as it might be inaccurate information. We got to Koh Rong via the slow boat coz there was no speed boat then and it took us about 3-4 hours. Now you can get a speed boat for 45 minutes( although I have heard crazy stories that now they are carrying so many people on the speed boat- uto 70?- that some people have expressed safety concerns. This is so sad) Anyway my friends and I stayed at Treehouse Bungalows and it was amazing. Well the rooms were small and basic, but they were right on the beach and they were up on a tree!! LOL and that made it amazing. We had lights in the rooms from 6pm- 10 pm. The nights in the room were not hot due to the cool sea breeze but the days/afternoons on the beach were brutally hot!! Also beware, some parts of the beach are full of sand flies, like a lot of sand flies. So come prepared with whatever it is that keeps this little suckers away, coz the bites itch like hell!!

We ate at our hotel- they had a nice restaurant with huge pillows, electricity and wifi. And on nights when we wanted to try something different, we went to Paradise Bungalows. We really did not feel like partying while we were there, so we did not check out the very many bars which were very popular with backpackers and other travellers from all over.

The restaurant/lounge area at Treehouse Bungalows.

Restaurant at Paradise Bungalows.

To be honest we did not do much on the island. Our aim was to relax and thats exactly what we did. We lounged on the beach the whole time :)We took a small trek through the island though, and came out at this rocky part that was just oh so beautiful.

If you like a party atmosphere, then Koh Rong is the place for you :)

Island Get away : Koh Rong Samloem

2014-05-17T05:01:00.001-07:00

How beautiful is that?!

Hi wonderful people, so I promised you a post about my get away to Koh Rong Samloem island remember? Well I am keeping my promise you guys :) Last month over the new year holidays, a group of friends and I decided to escape the city and go to a paradise like island here in Cambodia called Koh Rong Samloem. Now this is not to be confused with Koh Rong, this is a different island about 1 hour away from Koh Rong. It is smaller, quieter and with fewer backpackers, fewer hotels, just amazing. I have been to Koh Rong as well and maybe ill write a post about it just for comparison purposes.

Now Koh Rong Samloem is 4-5 hours off of Sihanoukville by the slow boat, or 1 hour by the speed boat. The speed boat is definitely more expensive,at $30 return, but definitely worth it. Koh Rong Samloem is absolutely beautiful! The water was clear, the sand was white and so clean that it squeaked with every step. It was unbelievable!

On the speed boat.

Just got off the speed boat and can't believe how beautiful the island is. Peep the plastic bag full of drinks ;)

We stayed on two hotels the whole time we were there. First one was a thatched/hut looking bungalow at The beach resort with a shared bathroom for $20. The room was alright, very basic. There's a lovely dorm here for mostly backpackers or people on a budget and it's $8 per night. It is worth noting that the electricity stayed on both day and night(in the bungalows, not sure bout dorm). Usually on islands hotels only offer a few hours of electricity per day, so this was a lovely surprise. The second hotel was beach front bungalow with a lovely balcony on Saracenbay Resort Cambodia which was amazing. Only thing is we had electricity only at night till around 6am in the morning. And most mornings I'd wake up drenched in sweat, and unable to go back to sleep due to the heat.

The beach resort bungalow.

Me on the balcony of Saracen Bay resort.

There's not much to do on the island. We ate, drunk, played board games, lounged on the beach, swam in the clear waters, played a little bit of beach football (ha!) - my kinda holiday. Naturally we brought our own drinks and mixers to minimize cost of buying a million drinks on the bar, but be warned, they were very lax about giving us ice lol. We did trek the trail that goes right through the island into the other side where Lazy beach hotel is at and this took us about 1.5 hours. That was fun, although I definitely preferred our side of the beach and wouldn't recommend this short trek alone.

Beautiful

Board games after breakfast.

Some beach football :) lol

Photo credit goes to the very talented Zeeshan.

We were also lucky that the monthly cambodian full moon party for April was scheduled on one of the nights we were there. It was my first ever full moon party and I wasn't expecting anything crazy coz Koh Rong Samloem is a tiny little island in Cambodia..like its not like its Thailand right? WRONG! It was crazy, there was over 500 people!! I have never seen so many travellers and backpackers in one place...lol. They kept coming and coming and coming, by boat from allover Sihanoukville!! Although the music started off horrible, later on it was a bit better and we got to dancing the night away on the beach. There was a lady with a booth doing awesome party make up on people for free. She had sequins, glitter, colors everything. But my friend and I went to get our make up done too late and there was nothing left but sequins lol, at least we tried :)There was a fire show too, and a large bonfire that people just sat around and played drinking games- during the shitty music bit lol. It got a bit crazy as the night went on, drugs and everything that goes with that etc etc. My friends and I couldnt undersand why people need drugs at a party when there's vodka redbull lol clearly we are old :) One thing I'll never forget- my friend who had an injured arm- thought it was a good idea to take a bike that was sitting around on the beach and hide it int he bushes..lol. It was funny to see her do it-with some help- and to see the owner look for it. Overall we had lots of laughs and lots of fun :)

Bonfire on the beach.

Fire show.

Getting my party face on..lol

Tada lol

Let's partyyyyyy!!!

So much fun was had!!

I obviously can't say everything that happened, every conversation that made me laugh to the point of tears, there's also a story of how my friends scared off a Dutch traveller..LOL, a very very hilarious drinking game with backpackers we had just met, my Dutch friend trying to get away with spelling UL at scrabble. Yeah, UL as in letter u and letter l..what is that??lol We laughed and laughed with no care in the world and I am grateful everyday for these kinds of experiences :)

Racism in Cambodia.

2014-04-27T04:20:00.000-07:00

Follow my Instagram maggie_hon for snippets of my life in Cambodia and some of my travel adventures.

Black people are discriminated against generally in all of Asia. I have heard horror stories from China, Hong Kong, Thailand etc. Black Africans experience the worst kind of racism in these countries. I have personally experienced racism in so many aspects of my life here in Cambodia and I will talk about it here for two reasons. 1) To spread awareness and 2) It is the issue I get asked most about in emails.

1. Visa on arrival at the Phnom Penh International Airport.
Cambodia is one of the easiest countries to enter. Majority of passport holders do not need to have a visa before hand, Kenya (and many other African countrues) included. One just needs to apply for a business or tourist visa on arrival at the airport when they land. A tourist visa costs $30 and a business visa slightly more. BUT if you are an African passport holder, the immigration at the Phnom Penh International Airport will not give you a visa (based solely on the fact that you are a black African) unless they are bribed. The current bribe is $1500. Yes I said $1500. Black Africans who come into the country without this amount of money for the immigration are usually denied entry and sent back.

If you are a black African who has secured work before coming into Cambodia, they will hold you at the airport and call your employers to verify etc. I know a few VSO volunteers who were almost denied entry because the Immigration officers couldnt contact their offices. I know a friend of a close friend who was coming from Thailand but was denied entry at the Cambodian airport since they could not call the University he was coming to work for here. It was after 10pm on a weekend night.

Basically even black Africans who want to come for a short visit cannot. For example I cannot have my family or friends from Kenya visit me here because they'll need to cough up $1500 to get a one month tourist visa.

This is such a contrast from the way white people from different countries are treated. They are not questioned, they are not asked anything and if the immigration asks for a bribe from them, it is usually $10-20 and their entry into the country does not depend on it.

It is also worth noting that the immigration at the Phnom Penh airport have knowingly allowed white convicted pedophiles (and other criminals) to go in and out of the country as they wish.

2. Racism from Airlines.
Cambodia is a visa on arrival country for majority of the countries, and this means that most people getting on their connecting flights to Cambodia usually do not have a Cambodian visa... (as they will apply for it and get it on arrival at the Cambodian airport right? ) Well, despite having this knowledge, most airlines still cause huge problems to black Africans who do not have a Cambodian visa. Examples of such airlines are Bangkok and Thai Airways.

These airlines deny black Africans a boarding pass with their reason being they do not have Cambodian visas on their passports. White people are never asked anything.

In some cases, some black Africans have been denied a boarding pass into a flight coming into Cambodia, despite the fact that they HAD a Cambodian visa!!!

Ill give an example of my very close friend who was working and living in Phnom Penh Cambodia. She went for a weekend trip to Bangkok and on her way back, Bangkok airways denied her entry/boarding pass. They asked her to show proof of a return ticket back to Malawi from Cambodia, before letting her in. Of course she did not have this and thus they wouldnt let her board. She had to book another flight with another airline. She had a one year multiple entry Cambodian visa and was here in Cambodia working for the UN.

Cases like this happen way toooooo often.

3. Visa extension
If you go through all the above hurdles and get into Cambodia, visa extension for a black African is a nightmare. For a white person, all you need to do to extend your business visa, is submit your passport with 2 passport photos and you get a one year visa extension for $280.

For a black African, you need to submit your passport, a letter from your place of work verifying that you work there, your house contract, a letter from your sangkat police station written in Khmer verifying that your house contract is valid and you can only extend your visa for 6 months and that costs $230. This is not a joke, I and all black Africans I know living here have go through this every 6 months.

Ofcourse unless you're working ofr an international NGO or company.

4. Businesses/Establishments denying us entry
Some businesses in the past have had a "No black people allowed" policy. Yes. These places will usually have the ban for a couple of weeks and then lift it, have it for a couple of weeks, then lift it.

They include Pontoon Nightclub on st 51 area. I and my friends have personally been turned away from Pontoon at least once in the past. Also last weekend 15th May 2015, my two female white American friends went to Pontoon with two black African guys, and the guys were denied entry. Teh security guys at the entrance said that the weekend before a fight broke out between some black guys and so they were not letting black guys in. This reason is BULLSHIT because I have seen white people fight in Pontoon, but I have NEVER seen then have a "No white men"allowed policy.

Riverhouse Lounge on river side has had this policy too. So did St. Tropez club on st 51 area.

When Lakeside used to be the hot backpacker areaa with lots of guesthouses and hostels, most of them had a no black people allowed policy.

5. Employment
Most schools here in Cambodia do not employ black teachers. Their reason being that most Cambodian parents do not want their kids taught by black people. They believe that a white person is better, even though said white person is a drug addict, a traveller who just want to earn some cash quick and doesnt care about the kids/his job, has no experience or qualification etc.

Some schools wtll tell you upfron that they do not hire black teachers, others will use the code which is "we are looking for native English speakers". Which is bullshit. I have been denied a job for this reason but later found out the job was given to a Polish backpacker who spoke worse English than I did, came to work sometimes tipsy/hangover and lasted only two months on the job.

6. Renting Houses
It is very very difficult to find a landlord that wants to rent his/her house to black people here in Cambodia. I wanted to move houses in April and looked at the classifieds on Bongthom. com and every agent I called would be super excitted to talk to me, then they'd ask where I was from. Id say Kenya- and ofcourse most of them do not know where Kenya is and so they would proceed to ask me if I had black skin. Id say yes and some of them would tell me flat out that they were sorry they have been instructed by the landlords not to rent the houses to black people. The other ones would tell me to wait, they had to ask the landlords if they were willing to rent out to a black person and if they were, then the agent would call me back to let me know.

This is my personal experience from a few weeks ago.

I must say though that I was lucky enough to find the kind of place I was looking for and with the most amazing and kindhearted landlords ever :)

7. Tourist visas to neighboring countries
Although I love travelling and experiencing different cultures/food/countries etc my travel experiences are very limited. This is because some embassies here are extremely racist towards black Africans. They deny us tourist visas based solely on the fact that we have African passports.

Take the Vietnam Embassy for example. I went in to apply or a visa and I got to the counter and asked for the necessary form I needed to fill. Instead of giving me this form, the people behind the counter asked to see my passport. I gave it to them. They looked at it, saw it was Kenyan, they gave it back to me and told me that "Sorry we cannot give you visa."

I asked them why. They said because they cannot. I insisted on the reason why they cannot and they said that they do not have the authority to issue my country a visa. I asked if an Embassy doesnt have that authority, then who does? They shrugged apologetically. I asked them if it was because Iwas black and African, they said sorry that they couldnt help me. I left.

A similar thing has happened at the Thai Embassy. They said that I needed to apply for a visa 3 months before my travel date as thats how longit would take to process my visa since they had to send my passport all the way to Bangkok to the Ministry to process the visas for black Africans.

I must mention though, I went to the Indonesian Embassy and was completely surprised to be treated like a human being. They talked to me nicely, asked me what kind of visa I wanted, told me all the requirements I needed to submit (some of the requirements were ridiculous) and after I fulfilled all the requirement, I was issued the visa :)

I am in no way saying that there's no black African people getting these visas, I know there are, my friend in is Bangkok as I am writting this, all am saying is that it is difficult for us.

So is Cambodia a racist country? Absolutely. But there is alot of positive things here in Cambodia as well, thats why I love it so much and have stayed this long, I talk about that more in all my other posts, but I feel like people need to know about the above as well.