April 18th (2020)

 

April 18th

And the good news is, that Cambodia has reported that there have been no new cases of Covid19 pandemic for a week.

I awoke at ‘stupid time’ (4.30am) this morning.

The current soundtrack of my life, as an enforced sojourner in Cambodia, might be somewhere between The Beatles and Pink Floyd

Nowhere Man

Fool on the Hill

And

Comfortably Numb.

Depressing isn’t it.

It’s 5.49 now. I have been Facebooking for about an hour, and am bored silly. 

Insert the song ‘I’m Bored’ by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. 

The bed creaks, but not due to any sort of physical intimacy, it just creaks. The door squeaks for the same reason.

6.36am.

An early breakfast then. It’s to going to have to be a ‘Common’ banana sandwich and ‘Red’ coffee. What I really fancy is be-devilled kidneys, a slap of kedgeree and a bloater (or kipper) and butter, with a nice cuppa tea. 

Ho hum. I confess that I have no idea just what a ‘Common Banana’ is, though my small hand of Angkor Market bought bananas are labelled such. However, The Cambodia Daily newspaper does inform that Cambodia exports some 300,000 tonnes of bananas. I just thought that I would share that important fact. I don’t know, maybe you had been dying to know about Cambodian production, especially where bananas were concerned or, there again, were not at all aware that Cambodia grew bananas. Well, now you know.

The thought of draping myself in the brown towel, trudging along the corridor to brush my teeth, wash my hair, shower and wash this morning’s dishes, just makes me want to go back to bed and leave it all to the ‘Good Fairy’. Sadly I also know that the ‘Good Fairy’ does not exist and that, at some point I will have to interrupt my day of idleness to perform those tasks. Being (sort of) shut down, means that even small things are sometimes a huge effort. Ablutions being but one. Planning my day being another. Now, you, whoever you are, might think ‘there is no need to plan your day. Just go with the flow.’ While this is true (ish), if I didn’t plan my day then I would have little to look forward to, so.....

Plan

1. Back to rest until I am ready to get up and wash self and dishes.
2. Having had breakfast at ‘home’, lunch needs to be taken out. Dinner will be found in fridge.
3. Prepare for tonight’s ‘Project’.
4. Facilitate tonight’s ‘Project’.
5. After tonight’s ‘Project’ drink bottle of ‘Indochine Wheat Beer’.

Now how’s that for a ‘cunning’ plan?

Lunch is at Hotel Somadevi Angkor, near the Angkor Hospital for Children, along Okhna Oum Chhay Street. I order a bagel with salmon (lox) and two poached eggs. It comes with a minuscule salad, and the eggs are far from large. I also order a cappuccino as I get a blank stare when I ask for a Flat White.

Cost $6.50? 

The food is $4, and the coffee is $2.50, and well over priced for such a small (Illy) cup. Coffee at Ellen Cafe, next to Colors of Cambodia is twice the size and half the price

I had wandered past Somadevi many times, and many times I had been tempted by the advertising board outside. The food is okay but, being low priced, is a snack rather than a meal. No condiments are available, I am the only customer and there is no Wifi connection.

I now sit in Ellen Cafe awaiting my iced coffee with condensed milk....$1.25.

The latest news (from The Khmer Times) is that schools in Cambodia are closed until further notice. This includes Public and Private schools. The Ministry of Education encourages e-learning, but of course that relies upon families having the devices to be able to do this. Poorer families, and therefore poorer children, will loose out unless they are helped.

Today’s spend...$7.75.