April 3rd (2020)

 

April 3rd

Last night was a bit rough. I had slept a little earlier, probably 11pm, but because of banging of doors and scraping of furniture, I was awoken twice during the night, and finally slept at 2am.

I am up again at 6am. I need to get to the kitchen before anyone else does. I cook four fried eggs (two successfully, two broke) with a little salt and white pepper, in a sparkling clean impromptu kitchen. I then have to clean my wok and utensil before I can eat. It is, most probably, at this point that this little adventure turns out to be more of a chore.

This situation reminds me of the time when I was freshly divorced, back in 1994. I had little earnings, only an assistant Social Worker’s part-time pay. After paying rent I didn‘t have much money for food. Luckily, opposite where I was staying in the British Edwardian seaside town of Clacton on Sea, was a greengrocer. That greengrocer frequently had bananas (Cavendish) going cheap. I would buy a big hand of bananas and, with cheap bread, eat that for all meals. Sometimes, I would get lucky on the weekend market and be able to buy pots of Korean noodles, half price or less, as they were beyond their sell-by-date. That’s how I survived for months. It seems that I’m back to those days, here in the tourist town of Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I drink my last Redoxon (vitamin C) dissolvable tablet and, at 8.20am, go back to bed until 12 noon. Lunchtime. Today, I think lunch will be Myojo Dry Mee Goring (Pot Noodle). I had bought two, just in case. Well, that time has come. Anyone who really knows me, knows how much I detest these nothing noodles, no goodness whatsoever, but they are filling. I’ll have them wet, not dry, and with Frissee (which some call a lettuce and others an endive), the noodles are a lot more filling that way. 

I am quite prepared to have sandwiches for dinner, but I have a surprise this evening. As I am setting up for my Friday project, there is a rustle as the curtains, which form an impromptu door, are parted and in comes Kosal and Salone bearing gifts. One has a plate of cooked meat, cut cucumber and spring onion, the other a bowl of Cambodian rice, which is somewhere between normal hard rice, and sticky rice. It has a great texture and wonderful taste. I am a little overwhelmed by this kind gesture. I have a sneaking suspicion that Phany must have spoken to them.