Day 189 - Sister Srey Café

Sunday, August 14th, 2016

4th Day in Cambodia; Siem Reap

Delaying

Start the day with the maid clock at 9am. Again. 

Our Resort's Street

The plan is to go to Phnom Penh today, but that got delayed again because the bus was full. There are multiple ways to get there, but the $15 USD luxury bus that has WiFi, outlets, and snacks is the one I mean. Unbelievable price for a 6.5h trip, I tells ya. 

Perfect, since I really wanted to check out this renowned cafe in town - Sister Srey. It's a café founded and run by two sisters from Melbourne, which they have definitely done a good job emulating. Shimou waited patient for the several hours I was writing, editing, formatting, and picture-infusing the posts. I forgot how damn long it takes when you do it all in one sitting rather than splitting it all up.

"Change Your Life... If You Want" 

I’m actually looking forward to going “home,” which is what I'm beginning to see Beijing as. It’s my travel home, the one that I can go back to and have some sense of stability instead of having to live out of a suitcase, continually packing up every other day.

I’m glad I didn’t book this right to the edge of the school break; I still have half a week to settle and be back home for half a week before school starts up again. Looking forward to seeing the kids again!

Observation

Shimou at Sister Srey, The Café

Why is it that every country I go, I always see some of the same brands? It’s weird. Jonathan Haidt (The Righteous Mind) was right when he said that corporations are the new super organism that’s going to take over governments. His example was a man swimming up a river. He’s swimming along when he’s overtaken in this race by a man in a row boat. There are no rules for making it to the finish line. That man thinks he’s going to make it to the goal first, when he, himself, is passed by an olympic rowing team. These are super organism, taking the place of the one before it.

In every cell we have, it has a organelles (cell's organs), some of which contain completely different DNA from the cells nucleus. It was a symbiotic relationship that became permanent. As such, those cells eventually made multicellular organisms, which eventually turned into people, which built tribes, societies, governments, and, finally, corporations. Even governments are tied to locations and diplomacies. Companies can do as they please, evade governments that want to hold them accountable, and generally bend the rules. Don’t pay your taxes? Big Whoop. Illegally dumping? Pff, pay the chump change that government fines you. It won't be much, as the country is scared of making the company take their business - and jobs - elsewhere. Not that it’s all bad, there are some companies like Google that pressure governments not to make stupid, police state-like policies, such as getting rid of internet neutrality.

Basic point: everywhere I go, I see Starbucks, Coke, Nescafé, Pepsi, Oreos, Pringles, Mcdonald's, KFC, and 7-11, not to mention cellphone models. They’re everywhere.

From TuCasa's Rooftop

Time Change

It can be a mind trip. Add one hour to the local time, then go back 12 is the fastest way to get to my home time. It’s 5:40pm as I write, which means it’s 6:40am back home, and this is after having to subtract one hour, then flip the am/pm while in Japan. Beijing’s time is exactly 12h from home, making it the easiest to flip the AM/PM and nothing more.

Saying No

Are you someone who has trouble saying no? Do you find it awkward, difficult - maybe even painful - to say that you don't want something? Well then Siem Reap (and much of South East Asia) is the place for you! You'll have dozens of women within 1 block offer you massages, random tuk tuk drivers offering you ganja, or rides, and even children pulling at your heart strings to buy post cards! If you say yes to them all, you'll be a sucker, and probably get terrible prices! Trial by fire, do it!

Back at the Resort

Shimou and I with Yumi!

We chatted with the Japanese business owner. Yumi is a funny woman who used to work for a company that made doors. She said her job was to work in the office for 3h, then walk around job sites making sure people are working. The company restructured, leaving her without a position. She decided to try running a small hotel in Siem Reap. "It's difficult to make money," she said, "but I enjoy speaking with all the travellers and meeting new people. Living on the local income is expensive, also. Even spending $3 on a meal is too much. Though, it's far nicer than working in an office"

We swapped stories about traveling, and I mentioned in passing that I liked to see the flowers in various countries. "That sounds like old woman" she said. Sassy bat.