18th March (2020)

 

18th March

My Khmer (surrogate) daughters have once more taken me for breakfast. This time to Phô Amap, along Street Taphul, Phoum, Taphul Road, Khet in Siem Reap, for Vietnamese Noodle Soup. I confess to not being a great fan of Asian breakfast soup noodle, albeit Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Malaysian etc, etc, etc. I find soup noodle unsubstantial , not at all like breakfasts from the Indian subcontinent or, indeed, from Europe. These contemporary virus (plague) days find us treading careful down unknown paths, where once we might have run, care free. Did I make that up or have I remembered this from something I read.

I guiltily sit and begin my second (self indulgent) ‘Flat White’ at Sister Srey Cafe. I have my partner’s (imaginary) voice, somewhat like a midnight mosquito, in the back of my head, telling me to be more frugal. On the other hand, if this is ‘the end, beautiful friend, the end’ as Jim Morrison (The Doors) sang, then I want to see my end jacked up with ‘Flat White) coffee leaking into my system, sparking my brain and enabling me to see the end, when it comes, with greater clarity. Would it be too much to also quote another Jim, this time Jimi Hendrix...’I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.’ But, of course, I hope that will be some years hence. There again, who would have thought that a pandemic virus would closed down countries, stranding some of us for weeks. I hope that it is only weeks.

Meanwhile....

There is less ‘Tuk Tuk sir’ as I pass, and those drivers who comment seem a little halfhearted. Sita, my Tuk Tuk driver friend, only made two dollars yesterday, he tells me. This is going to be a difficult time for small businesses and those who are self employed. Mind you, in many places people are being asked to take unpaid leave, just to rub their noses in their poverty. In Siem Reap, white foreigners still clog up the cafes, same as, but there is a quiet on the streets. Everything, and most people, seems a tad subdued, as if waiting......

I don’t drink beer. But here I am at Siem Reap’s Jungle Burger Sports Bar, drinking cold draught beer. It’s free, and comes with the meal ((Fush and Chups....another thing I don’t really do, eat fish and chips, unless it’s here. And I am.) Light my Fire, by The Doors, is playing, right after Creedence Clearwater Revival. I feel at home already. Clayton Venis has created a little slice of perfection here at Jungle Burger. The food is great, affordable, and comes with a free beer. The music’s, generally, good too. I visit every trip to Siem Reap. It’s a small mercy in these harrowing times.