The weddings I miss!

This year I am in the US for my study, and it is also the year that I miss at least 6 weddings of my good friends back home in Cambodia. I’m so sorry about that, but I’m very very glad for their great times. A week or two ago, it was Nana’s wedding. Nana is a friend I know in the SSEAYP, and I remember how she was very nice, together with other friends, taking care of me when I was seasick on the ship when I was OBSC representative. Yesterday it was Kanha’s wedding. Kanha and her sister are my good friends. I remember how Kanha and I lied down next to each other on the floor of the ship when both of us were seasick. Always lots of fun to be with her. Next week it’s going to be Kunthea and Thyro’s wedding. Kunthea works with me at Amrita, and Thyro worked with me in SIC. Both of them are dear friends. The week after that, it is going to be Chanthol and Cheng’s wedding. I met both of them in SSEAYP. The last two couples are very very close to me. We spent lots of time together, both working and hanging out. Then next month, it’s going to be Smey and Srey Peou’s wedding. Smey is my old friend since we were at grade 9 in high school. After Smey’s, it’s going to be Den and Thea’s wedding. Den is an old friend at my undergraduate study at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. These are the people whom I do not only know them but other people in their families. I wish to the best of luck to their marriage lives full of love and romance. And lots of wealth!

Sal, you need to follow this for better living! Please!!!!!

Late Night Eating & Studying Tips

1. Eat regularly throughout the day – Do you miss lunch, squeeze in a quick snack between classes and then find yourself parked in front of your refrigerator at 10pm? Your body would prefer to get energy when it needs it, which is all day, rather than fill up at the end of the day. Bring food with you! Try to eat every 5 hours or so, and have a light snack for late night studying.
2. Don’t keep “junk food” around. Chips, dips and candy don’t just “appear” magically in your food cupboard. One reason you snack on junk is because you made the choice to buy it and bring it home! Change your environment, change what you eat.
3. Choose smart snacks. If you’re hungry, eat. But especially if it’s late at night, you’ll quickly add calories if you’re choosing candy, ice cream, wings, chicken finger subs, etc. Keep plenty of healthier, lower calorie foods around for when you’re a little hungry (fruit, cereal, whole grain crackers, low fat cheese, yogurt, soup, etc.)
4. Get physical during study breaks – physical activity, even a short 5 minute walk, can increase oxygen to your brain, get your blood flowing again, help you refocus on studying. Don’t eat food to stay awake.
5. Take snack breaks rather than eat continuously. Everyone is different, but for grazers, it’s easy to eat a lot more calories than you’re aware of because you’re focusing more on the mental challenge and the words on the page, rather than sensing if you’re still hungry or tasting the food. Eating without distraction may make you feel more satisfied.
6. Portion snacks and meals – if you grab from the bag, the bag may be empty before you realize it. Serve snacks in a bowl or on a plate and put them away. A very large meal, more than 400 or 500 calories, will likely interfere with your studying by pulling blood to your stomach rather than your brain.
7. Protein foods may help you stay alert. Eating a meal high in protein may help you feel more alert and motivated. Examples of high protein foods: lean meat, beans, lentils, low fat dairy, soy foods, high-protein snack bars, nuts (~2-4 Tbs, as they’re also high fat). Excess carbohydrates may help us relax and feel sleepy.
8. Include fluid, and be aware of the calories. Not only will you stay hydrated, you’ll get a movement break by visiting the restroom. Sometimes we reach for food when we’re thirsty. If you’re dehydrated, you may find yourself prone to crave grapes or other watery foods. Make sure you get a minimum of 2 quarts a day, more if you’re active or in hot weather. Avoid excess caffeine (>2 cups) as it may affect the quality of your sleep.
9. Avoid eating right before bedtime. Try to have your last snack at least 2 hours before going to bed. A large snack or meal right before sleep means your body is working on digesting that meal during the night, rather than resting and repairing other tissues. This interferes with the quality of your sleep and you may wake feeling tired. It’s also unlikely you need that energy at that time of the night, and usually our choices are sloppier when we’re tired, both of which may contribute to weight gain.
10. Hot foods, hot liquids – hot foods tend to make us feel more satisfied, and steaming hot foods are hard to eat quickly. Try bringing instant soup or instant oatmeal with you. Know where the microwaves are on campus to heat up a quick snack or meal.
11. Limit sedentary time. Any form of exercise while you watch tv can help add activity to your day when you’re short on time, but may also keep you from snacking, as the TV easily lures us to eat with constant food commercials. If you watch TV for several hours a day because you’re bored, consider adding some other activities to your night life.

Cleaning Husband’s Feet

Allow me to share an activity at a wedding ceremony. At the wedding, there are a number of activities, and one of them that is well known to everyone, young and old, male and female, is Cleaning the Husband’s Feet. The bride is made to knee down just in front of the groom who is standing on a cube-shaped stone and the lady, with some little water, and cleans his feet, with the accompaniment of the beautiful Cambodian traditional wedding music. Needless to explain, every Cambodian understand that he or she will clean the feet only for someone whom he or she has a great respect. It is still practised today though the gender equity has been promoted in this country, and I have to say that the current women rights activitists were among those who clean the feet, but never have I heard they compaign to eliminate this practice or to add another element into this, that is, the man has to do the same thing for the woman. Every lady does it in order to fulfil the celebration and it’ll be strange to hear a lady questioning why she has to do that. Her mother is usually the first person who will shut her up and make her do it in order to prove herself as a good daughter in the family. In the end, she will do it to be named a Cambodian lady.

Interestingly, I only came across an old Khmer book (Khmer is the language of Cambodia) that explains about this. The man stands on the heavy stone and his leg is cleaned by his celebrated wife with pleasantly cool water. There are underlying messages that the man should be heavy-hearted (we usually say ‘as heavy as a stone’ and, heavy-hearted, in Khmer means ‘being very patient’) and the woman should be the one who cools down all the heating problems at home. Cambodians women are traditionally expected to be the one to provide pleasant shade at home from the hot sunlight (the unpleasant matters), and keep the big problems small, and the small problem nothing. I only got to know early this year. This is very helpful and good justification for the practice.

A new Cambodian film!

Vanished producers hope to spur a resurgence in local filmmaking

Wednesday, 09 September 2009 15:00 Dianne Janes

The craze for a recently released Khmer thriller playing to sold-out screens in Phnom Penh suggests there just might be a market, and a profitable one, for quality Cambodian cinema

Pov Pisan, who plays the cynical detective, Heng, with Savay Sakana, who plays Maly, during a scene from the movie Vanished. PHOTO SUPPLIED

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I wanted to make a modern film about cambodians and wrap it up in a thriller.

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The teenagers packed into the cinema at Sorya on a weekday afternoon are so loud and excitable I think maybe they’ve had too much Coca-Cola.

As the tension rises just a few minutes into the film and the first shocking moment is revealed, audience members jump out of their seats and scream their collective heads off.

The film that has everybody queuing up to be frightened is Vanished, a modern-day thriller set in Phnom Penh.

British producer Matthew Robinson and his team at Khmer Mekong Films (KMF) have raised the bar for local film productions with this new effort, producing a stylish, contemporary film that keeps the audience guessing right to the end.

Not for KMF the familiar regional style of filmmaking, with its over-the-top use of video effects and hard-to-follow supernatural storylines; Robinson’s aim in creating Vanished was to “present Cambodia in a modern light; to make a contemporary film about Cambodians and wrap it up in a thriller”.

Licence to thrill: the movie’s promotional poster. PHOTO SUPPLIED

KMF has been building a solid team of local talent for the past six years since Robinson relocated to Phnom Penh to work on the BBC series Taste of Life.

Teaming experienced UK cinematographer Bill Broomfield with local director Tom Som on Vanished helped to blend local knowledge with international expertise.

The film is based on three young Cambodian women working at a hip radio station, Heart FM.
When two of the women mysteriously disappear, radio presenter Maly realises her life is in danger.

She joins forces with her co-workers and the local police detective to find out what happened to them, all the while being hunted by the mystery abductor.

Actress Savay Sakana plays the sweet, fragile lead character Maly with charm and grace.

Other standout performances include Nop Sophorn as her sassy best friend Chantha, and Cambodian TV star Pov Kisan as world-weary Detective Heng.

Vanished uses classic, Hitchcock-inspired thriller twists and turns to keep viewers on the edges of their seats.

Watching the film with a Cambodian audience is an entertaining delight, as they don’t hold back with their reactions.
“It’s been thrilling,” agrees Robinson. “They’re jumping at all the right moments.”

Writer Matt Baylis has come up with a well-crafted story – with input from KMF’s Cambodian writers – that is both universal and uniquely Cambodian.

The film touches on themes of independence, as the girls are trying to live independent lives and make their own way in the world.

It shows them challenging social hierarchies at work, standing up to their boss and to society’s narrow vision of how young women should behave.
Vanished also focuses on a central theme of who can be trusted – weaving a pervasive culture of suspicion.

“It’s old versus new, traditional versus modern thinking”, says Robinson.

“We’re trying to give a platform for young Cambodians to see that they can have an independent life.”
KMF has high hopes for the film, which cost “more than double” the typical US$20,000 budget for locally produced features.

If audiences keep coming back for more after producing high, first-week attendance figures, KMF looks set to recover much of that investment – so long as the pirates can be kept at bay.

If a DVD copy of the film hits the streets, the filmmakers know it’s all over.

“Once it’s out, it’s out,” says Robinson.
“If someone goes and pinches the DVD, then it’s got no value. It is literally theft.”

To prevent this sad, seemingly inevitable turn of events, a KMF staff member has to carry the screening copy by hand into the cinema each day – as well as supervise the projection to ensure that it is kept away from rapacious pirates.

The filmmakers hope to screen the film at international festivals and use its momentum to propel KMF into bigger and better projects.

The film screens with well-authored English subtitles and isn’t just aimed at locals – it also serves as a fantastic introduction to local culture for foreigners keen to sample Cambodian cinema. More, please!

Vanished is currently screening at the cinema on the fifth floor of Sorya mall in Phnom Penh.
It opens at the Baray Ondet Cinema in Siem Reap this Friday.

What a day today!

Last night I went to bed at 4.00 in the morning after I finished the research paper and submitted to my instructor. Today, I was scheduled to have an individual conference with her at lunch time. My to-do list also includes going to the bank to cash a check and open a bank account at the Bank of America.

I needed a passport to cash the check, but I started the morning looking for the disappearing passport in my room. Oh my god, that was so irritating! And I only had 10 more minutes before the appointment. I calmed down and decided to leave the room for the appointment. As I walked, I was so worried, and all in my head was passport and passport. At individual conference, I managed to have a good and fruitful time speaking with Sheila, my instructor, about the paper I wrote. Upon finishing the meeting, I walked back to the room to find the passport, trying to go through things slowly and carefully. Not long, I found it in a small pocket of my backpack, and then I remembered that I had kept it there so that it was safe and no one could find easily. Well, it was certainly not easy for one to find, including myself.

With the passport, check, and other possibly required documents in my bag, I walked 25 blocks to the bank. I wanted to do so because I would take advantage to explore the city. I brought my umbrella so that I could use it walking in the sunlight. I smiled because I now was better organized, unlike this morning. I think I should make a copy of the check for my record, so I went to the library where I could do so. I was proud I was really well-organized. Done with copying, I set off on foot to the bank. It was a nice walk though it was a bit too far. I observed a man fishing by the river got a fish, but he freed the fish because it was not a big-enough size for fishing. That was interesting! In my country, fish of any size will be caught and cooked, though it is as small as my thumb. That’s good to learn.

After 45 minutes, I came across a friendly policeman, very tall and large, and asked him where the nearest bank was. Having a look at his handbook, he pointed at the direction I should go, and he seemed very good at that. I remembered in Siem Reap people gave me 3 different directions for that only one destination and how the name and number of streets do not usually make sense. No choice, I moved into the direction he gave, and yes I found the bank just 3 minutes later. So, he really knew what he told me. I went in and felt the pleasantly cold air from the air-conditioning, but it did not last long before I sweated again. I opened my bag, the check was not there. What the heck? I then realized I stupidly left my check in the photocopy machine at the library! I could not believe I did that.

Actually, No one would be able to cash the check because it was under my name, but it was a shame to go back to my boss who issued me the check and mentioned the situation to him. I wanted to find the check no matter what. Walking out of the bank immediately, I waved my hand and a taxi picked me up. I told taxi driver who was a friendly man from Pakistan to drive me to University to Pennsylvania. While driving, he talked to me and I tried to speak to him in order to control my anxiety. The cap arrived at the campus, and as its door opened, I ran as hard as my leg could carry me to the library. A few minutes before that, a middle-aged woman found the check and was about to bring it to the information counter, and I got her just in time. She gave me back the check and we had a few words. She was so glad to know I am from Cambodia because she was there once a few years ago. She was a very nice and sweet lady.

Now I had the check. I re-did the 25 blocks to punish myself for messing up the day. This time I got to the bank, cashed the check, and opened a bank account with assistance from a very welcoming staffer. At the end of the day, it was at least good to complete what I had planned to do. The evening, however, was better as my Fulbright mentor brought me by subway to Chinatown for dinner. After the delicious meal, we walked a dozen of blocks to a museum where she works. It was nice chatting and sightseeing with her and we took a bus home.

That’s it for today. I learn that if we mess up one thing or two, it does not mean we will mess up all the other things.