April 8th (2020)

 

April 8th

00.14am

My mind is too active to sleep, so I edit this a little..

08.30am

Breakfast is two slices of Jasmine Bakery & Coffee ‘Milk Soft’ bread, Kerrygold (salted) ‘Pure Irish Butter’ because I don’t like eating plastic, and Hénaff Pâté with herbs. Oh and the now obligatory mug of ‘Red’ coffee, a dollop of Farmhouse Australian Milk and a teaspoon of Cambodian Palm Sugar.

The Khmer Times, today reports, that...

“On March 27, the first – and, so far, only – repatriation flight for stranded UK citizens left Phnom Penh for London. Unlike other repatriation flights, which have been organised by other western governments and their embassies in Cambodia, this flight was arranged by a private UK citizen in the face of indifference from the British Embassy and the UK government. Now safely back home with his family in the English countryside, Khmer Times spoke exclusively to the man who made the extraordinary happen, Jerry Lewis. He told us of the logistics of organising an international flight for 103 people, the lack of support from the UK Embassy, the warmth and goodwill he and other UK tourists received from the Cambodian people and his ongoing quest to raise the profile of UK citizens stranded in Cambodia and the world.”

Obviously I wasn’t on that flight 

1. because I didn’t know about it, and 
2. because I really don’t want to go back to England.

According to today’s Malaysian ‘Star’ newspaper, the Malaysian Government will decide, on Friday 10th April, whether to extend the MCO (Movement Control Order). Nothing was said about allowing foreigners into the country.

I want burger for lunch, but don’t want Burger King after my last one I had. Lucky Burger is recommended on ‘The Net’ so, off I trudge along practically deserted streets towards Lucky Mall (established 2008). The walk to Lucky Mall is a little romantic. Flowers seem to be in bloom everywhere. Yellow, pink, white flowers dress my path, sometimes coy in shade, at other times brazen in the sun. Paths are dappled with sun and shadow, graced with those fallen blooms. As I walk, many flowers pose against the blue of the sky, aware of the sheer brilliance of nature and their own beauty within it. I cross the not so crowded road and step up to Lucky Mall, which is a small mall in Cambodia’s Siem Reap, on Sivatha Boulevard. Once it was a sparkling temptation to the Khmer youth of Siem Reap, but now stands a little weather worn. The large stationers has gone, leaving a large empty space. Other shops are closed because of the pandemic, leaving only a few open. There are few people inside.

Upon entering the mall I am stopped and have my forehead temperature read. She doesn’t like my temperature (37) and (I ‘m guessing here) wants me to cool down under the air con. I do, and she reads it again and is happy (36.6). Well, my excuse is that I had been walking under the hot sun from Colors of Cambodia, an 8 minute walk past the strangely quiet Angkor Hospital for Children.

I encounter, at the Lucky Burger counter, a large advert for the Special Lucky Burger, only available until the end of the Khmer New Year (next week). So I point and ask for that. I was asked if I wanted to go large. At least I assume that is what the very young lady said, as I ended up with  Special Lucky burger, coke and French Fries. That meal equals R18,000 (or about four dollars). The taste, no better and certainly no worse than a certain famous American burger multi-national. The Coke Cola, with ice, was about the same, refreshing, cold and the French Fries equally as bad as elsewhere.

The walk back, after shopping, is a tad heaty, and I arrive back at Colors of Cambodia sweaty, and so to the shower. I am so glad that Phany did whatever it is that she did to get the water back on upstairs, as it was off this morning. Glad too that my dear Phany had been to the bank, and helped me change my last few Malaysian Ringitt, and some Euros I had brought with me (just in case).

From last night and all this morning I have felt a tinge of loneliness, a continuing feeling of abandonment. I can feel it there, at the edge of my consciousness, a damn straining under mounting pressure. Or that sense when you are in the early stages of a cold. You suspect that you may have a cold, but there is no tangible evidence, so you push the idea away. I need a warm, soothing, cuddle from someone who really will enjoy it as much as I, but alack and alas I must gird my loins in my practically Spartan singledom. 

I’m tempted to re-read Hesse’s ‘Steppenwolf’ for the umpteenth time, but fear the being alone feeling will increase, not decrease. Am I Harry Haller? There are times in my life that I think I am. Maybe I should read Siddhartha instead, again for the umpteenth time since the 1960s (which have a lot to answer for). 

5.20pm 

Teatime (coffee time) with Nescafe Red and McVitie’s Digestives (Glasgow 1830). Original the biscuits are not. They are much thinner now and the packets have lost 100g in size due to financial recalculations for Brexit.

At Lucky Mall supermarket today I bought....

Vital Drinking Water (x2); McVitie’s Digestive Original Biscuits; Dutchie Yogurts (x2); Coffee Coke (due to a newly found taste); Colgate Batman Toothbrush (because the hairs on mine are all splayed); a packet of Pocket Tissue and Cavendish Bananas. Plus I paid for a plastic bag (.10). 

Cost from supermarket - $8.35

Today’s Total cost - $12.75

Shopping at Lucky Mall is a bit swings and roundabouts when compared to Thai Huot Market but, overall, I do find Lucky Mall is a tad cheaper and has items not available in the other supermarket. Meat seems cheaper there also. Lucky Mall is certainly worth an extra trip or three.

Dinner, such as it is, is the left-over flatbread from when I made dhal the other day, buttered, and two Cavendish bananas smashed on top, with a very light sprinkle of salt. I have two yogurts (those I bought from Lucky Mall) as well as a mug of milk. There are no glasses here. It’s all a bit like camping, but in a house.