June 7th (2020)

 

June 7th

84 days here.


I am up at 7.30am


Apart from the insistent drilling and hammering, not to mention the fact that the Apple midi computer now believes itself to be in 1st January 2009, all is fine (ish).


Breakfast, is the remaining small bananas as sandwiches and a mug of Lipton's Yellow tea. I am so tired of Nescafe 'Red' coffee, which bares no relation whatsoever to real, freshly ground, coffee that I would rather drink tea.


On to today’s cooking……..


I visit Thai Huot Market and spend the necessary. It seems that the Sunday meal always comes to about $25, no matter how I try to save money. It's because I don't have my kitchen of ingredients with me. Like today, when I had to buy a jar of mayonnaise, which is something I would generally have in stock. Salome helps cut the potatoes for me, and Phany takes some photos for me.


Sunday lunch is shallow fried Dory fish in olive oil and butter ; onion, red pepper and tomatoes fried in olive oil, with fish sauce and lemon juice; potato salad with garlic, chives,  Khmer mint, small chilli, mayonnaise with black and white pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.


It takes two hours to cook everything in that hot kitchen. But, once again, I manage. Phany has not seen Dory fish before, and is surprised how easy it is to cook. It is my fall-back fish, and is cheaper than most and pretty versatile. It doesn't have a strong taste or texture like some fish, and is good for quick cooking. Back in Malaysia I like to keep some in the freezer.


Cooking for the teachers, and students  at Colors of Cambodia gives me a small sense of giving back (dana) as does my volunteer  Monday art history lessons. They are only small. And they are all I can afford here because everything is in US Dollars, but it is nice to cook for an appreciative audience, and it helps keep my mind off my temporary exile in Cambodia. My mind, occupied with this cooking meditation, is unable to worry about the deaths in the UK and the conflict in the USA or, indeed, the Malaysian measures which keep me here.


Speaking, or rather writing of Malaysia, I am reliably informed that the back door Prime Minister is keeping Malaysia closed until at least the end of August. Which, effectively, means that I continue to be exiled for another three months in Cambodia.


“Interstate travel will be allowed, except for areas placed under enhanced MCO, while the country's borders will remain closed, the prime minister said.”


At this very moment I am stunned. I feel dark clouds, but am desperately trying to keep them at bay. If this news is true, then I am only a little way off half-way in my ordeal. Money will become even more of an issue. Cambodia is so very expensive, and I do not have the capacity to live like a local and cook for myself everyday. The cost of the air conditioning I am using will become more of an issue too.


Now I need to see if I can officially be allowed to stay in Cambodia until then, or will I have to leave. If I leave, it can only be to go to Covid 19 death ridden Britain, where yet another Prime Minister hasn’t got a bloody clue. Everywhere, democracy has proven to be a failed experiment, largely because it has allowed those who lie and cheat to take over from those who truly believe in the tenets of democracy, which is... “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.” Of course this does rely on fair play and honesty, something which seems to be sorely lacking among most politicians these days.



I will update my Blog, so that I am only one day behind…...just in case anything happens.



Today’s spend

Thai Huot Market….Coca Cola x 3; Dory Fish Fillet packs x 3; Mixed Fresh Herbs; Fresh Lemon Egypt; Tomatoes; Red Sweet Pepper; Baby Potatoes packs x3; Garlic Chives; Citra Natural White Bar Soap x2; Globemilk Milk; Lotus tissues; Dasani Water x 2 and Heinz Mayonnaise Original.


Total spend….$25.60