Recent random observations Part 1: Siem Reap edition
1) While wandering to get our registration packet for the 10k race, we came across a sign for "Massage Member Club." Noun-noun-noun? Or Verb-Noun-Noun? In southeast asia, you never know.
2) Some may have heard of the site, stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. There's a similar site called whitewhine. We came up with a number of potential entries during our conversations, including:
a) "I can't believe my new ipod is broken. Now I gotta use my old bulky one!"
b) "Why won't they take this $10 bill? It's legal, dammit!" (In Cambodia, you commonly use US dollars for most transactions, only using local currency for transactions of less that a dollar or two. But the locals are loath to use any US bills that aren't crisp and new, such as bills from 2002.)
c) "People here know English, not like the filipino and nepalese waiters in Hong Kong. Here when they say yes, you know they understand, but in Hong Kong, they give you this vacant stare, and you know they're gonna get the order wrong."
3) The entertainment one night at dinner was the store across the street from our restaurant. It was a store that sold nothing but stuffed animals, huge ones, like you would see at a county fair. It was doing brisk business right up until it closed at 9pm. As a dining companion asked, "Who needs to go buy a giant stuffed animal at 8:30 on a Saturday night in Siem Reap? Is there something we're missing here?"
4) Also confusing were all these giant fake Duracell batteries scattered over Siem Reap, in what I assumed was an advertising campaign. Or, it being Cambodia, they could be there for no particular reason, too.
5) Once again, Siem Reap changes every time I go back. This time, we came across the first shopping mall within the city limits. It was small, a two-story building that took up a small city block, but it was laid out like a tiny western shopping mall, complete with a burger outlet. And apparently western fast-food outlets have finally discovered the country; there was a KFC opening in downtown (the first fast food chain in the city), and a Dairy Queen had opened at the airport.
6) Also changing: I now counted at least 6 intersections with stoplights. The first time there, there was one stoplight, the second time there, two. And more ATMs, too: When I first got there, there were no ATMs outside of the airport that I saw, then there was one. Now there were at least a dozen, and they all dispensed US dollars.
2) Some may have heard of the site, stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. There's a similar site called whitewhine. We came up with a number of potential entries during our conversations, including:
a) "I can't believe my new ipod is broken. Now I gotta use my old bulky one!"
b) "Why won't they take this $10 bill? It's legal, dammit!" (In Cambodia, you commonly use US dollars for most transactions, only using local currency for transactions of less that a dollar or two. But the locals are loath to use any US bills that aren't crisp and new, such as bills from 2002.)
c) "People here know English, not like the filipino and nepalese waiters in Hong Kong. Here when they say yes, you know they understand, but in Hong Kong, they give you this vacant stare, and you know they're gonna get the order wrong."
3) The entertainment one night at dinner was the store across the street from our restaurant. It was a store that sold nothing but stuffed animals, huge ones, like you would see at a county fair. It was doing brisk business right up until it closed at 9pm. As a dining companion asked, "Who needs to go buy a giant stuffed animal at 8:30 on a Saturday night in Siem Reap? Is there something we're missing here?"
4) Also confusing were all these giant fake Duracell batteries scattered over Siem Reap, in what I assumed was an advertising campaign. Or, it being Cambodia, they could be there for no particular reason, too.
5) Once again, Siem Reap changes every time I go back. This time, we came across the first shopping mall within the city limits. It was small, a two-story building that took up a small city block, but it was laid out like a tiny western shopping mall, complete with a burger outlet. And apparently western fast-food outlets have finally discovered the country; there was a KFC opening in downtown (the first fast food chain in the city), and a Dairy Queen had opened at the airport.
6) Also changing: I now counted at least 6 intersections with stoplights. The first time there, there was one stoplight, the second time there, two. And more ATMs, too: When I first got there, there were no ATMs outside of the airport that I saw, then there was one. Now there were at least a dozen, and they all dispensed US dollars.
posted by throm at 11:37 AM
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