Khmer Diary

[Faidenk]

In summary, how much do I need to live here?

1. Housing - $250 rent, $10 for cable and water, $60 for electricity. $320 for 2 of us, that makes it $160/month for me.

2. Drinks – if we just go to the pubs along the riverside, it won’t cost us more than $15 inclusive of tips with tuk-tuk there and back. If we go there during Happy Hours, it should be enough to see us stagger home. 3 times a week - $180/month. There are of course other diversions, some cheaper but I won’t dwell on that. I draw a line at those $5 blowjobs in a dark lane.

The local beer gardens (BG) often yield some surprisingly good catches. The only downside is language. More often than not you find yourselves sticking out like a sore thumb, but VC and I have tried it, both by ourselves and with Singaporean BG connoisseurs. Here’s how it roughly works – there are the beer promoters (BP). BPs push the beers they work for. At $3 a 640ml bottle, it’s not exactly cheap. So you pick the beer based on the BPs’ appeal rather than the product they push. They are usually available for takeaway and subject to price negotiation. No tips necessary as they make a dollar off every bottle you drink.

Then, there are the PROs who also sing on stage, (note I don’t refer to them as singers who also sit with customers) also available and subject to nego. If, at the end of the evening, a $2 or $3 tips will suffice if no deal is done.

A word of caution, these girls drink, and how. I rate myself a moderate drinker but here I’m a babe sucking milk.

$40 seems to be the rate for takeaway, but charm can probably save you $10. It was $20~$30 a year ago. Inflation has indeed taken its toll.

Further upmarket, you have the KTVs. Vietnamese, PRC beauties, and prices start at $60 to $100. Bro Bright was propositioned for $150 from a Naga World stunner, but this is another rung up the ladder. I believe he turned it down.

These are by no means the only source for female companionship. Some knowledge of the Khmer helps no end - markers at snooker clubs, girls at shopping centers, for example. Everyone has a price and at the end of the day, a month’s wages for a night is mighty tempting.

At home, I stock up the fridge with Angkor cans @ $12 a carton, Korean shoju at $1.80 a 330ml bottle. Sometimes a bottle of Scottish King at $9.60 a 750ml bottle, it’s not Royal Salute but I don’t get a hangover in the morning.

Other poisons include a bag of Cambodia herb at $10 available along the Riverside if you’re so inclined. I won’t recommend touching any harder stuff.

3. The ladies – maybe once a week @ $40 a pop. $160/month, more if you’re a young stud. I am at this junction not factoring in any live-in or semi-permanent arrangements, they usually do cost more.

4. Food – a combination of doing your own marketing and cooking and dining out, $100/month. Note we are not talking about Cordon Bleu or Michelin star restaurants here, an occasional $3 chicken rice, pizza, stuff like that. Me? I cook my own good stuff.

5. Ciggies – Marlboro Lights, Davidoff - $9.50 for a carton. Winston - $4.90. Local brands even cheaper. So choose your poison.

6. Connectivity – At the moment I go to any of the cafes with free Wifi to go online, spending a dollar on a glass of iced coffee. However, $30 a month should see you with a 128Kb connection. This is about the only thing that costs more and delivers less than in SG. So please be understanding if I may seem a mite slow in replying until they install wifi at my place.

7. At the Central Market or Phsa Thmey, there are pretty good quality knockoffs of Burburry, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger etc for $4 to $5.

So it is about a total of $650 a month. In reality I spent less. I don’t screw around that much anymore after the initial period of euphoria. Don’t drink that much either although it doesn’t mean I go to the bars any less. Just drinking less.

Others may dispute this and of course they have valid reasons to. I can easily double this amount and still come up short if I were to frequent the more expensive places of entertainment, or like to contribute to the well-being of Naga World casino, or succumb more to the charms of those nubile and charming creatures.

That said, the mileage I am getting out of this amount of money is a whole lot more than I ever could in SG. In fact, with this amount in SG, I would probably have to ask our dear Leader for handouts from the 2% GST kitty he promised to help poor miserable fucks like me.

Also I did not factor in the cost of airfares returning to SG. Depending on the season, it can range from $120 to $250 return, including taxes, on Jetstar. Medical costs are high here, so it pays to keep fit. My preventive measure? A dollar each time I go to a local gym.

So, have I left anything out? Let’s see - a roof over the head, food and sex, and a little extra thrown in – drinks, ciggies and the internet. Nah, I don’t so.

Those who can’t live without the occasional grilled lobster, mignon fillet, abalone, a couple of slices of toro, a after-dinner Habana cigar and a swirl of a Grand Cru on the tongue, you’re reading the wrong thread. Swiss standard of living this is not.

[Faidenk]

Just few quick pics. The first few is of a lady the first time I went to Sissler. A dead ringer for Zoe Tay, but she isn't working there anymore. Damned! Would love to have a pic of her with me in bed. Tell me if my eyes' skewed. The bad lighting caused the graininess but I'm not apologizing for that, only for not having a steamy FR.

[Faidenk]

Most of these are from previous trips.


A local beer garden. Pretty but a pity she seems preoccupied by several calls on her mobile, so I took the girl who was accompanying the driver. Not as purty but good in bed, that'll the girl sitting to her left. More of her later.




This girl is a real wildcat. Met her at a beer garden in the outskirts of PP. We did some silly magic tricks and was made to drink, too much. Took her back to PP with us. She threw up several times in another KTV we went to, came out, drank some more, threw up again. A little tanned, but nice lithe body and game for anything. Pity I couldn't reach her at her mobile anymore.

[hotdick69]

1 of the best and very well written travelogue i have read online...... makes me feel like reading a novel.... its direct and to the point.... shows how a typical man lives in a foreign land to make himself feel at home...... Kudos to TS..... i have full respect for u......

I myself will be heading to Angkor Wat next week..... but wont be able to get any gals as the Mrs is following..... maybe its time for me and my frds to get our butts out of chang ping in china.... and venture here

[Faidenk]

A very, very charming girl I met in a Pakse KTV in Laos. Very sweet and compliant, was really tempted to tell my friend to continue the journey to Vientiane himself while I stay behind. But that would make Faidenk a SOB and I ain't one.






This one is another Laos sweetie. Man, let me tell you guys, Laos has the most beautiful girls. Very gentle, soft-spoken. It's really a pity I'm not 'settled' there.




Okay. That's enough for the day. The staff at this place are making excuses to stand behind me while I load these pics up to Photobucket and linking them here. Hope they whets the appetite for the moment. I should have my wireless up in a day or 2.

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by hotdick69

1 of the best and very well written travelogue i have read online...... makes me feel like reading a novel.... its direct and to the point.... shows how a typical man lives in a foreign land to make himself feel at home...... Kudos to TS..... i have full respect for u......

I myself will be heading to Angkor Wat next week..... but wont be able to get any gals as the Mrs is following..... maybe its time for me and my frds to get our butts out of chang ping in china.... and venture here

Angkor is great. Have a good time.

Chang Ping I love it there. If only I was 20 years younger. Sigh.

[Faidenk]

Padding The Bill

I mentioned in a previous post I caught a bar employee padding the bill when she thought we were too sloshed to notice, and she’s right too, us having countless mugs of draught, and having polished off a second bottle of, in my uneducated opinion, an awfully sweet Jagermeister, and attempting to do the same with a bottle of Tequila . If she had been a little more attentive she would have noticed I didn’t drink much.

Had she slipped the extra tab in with the regular orders, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. But she did it in between orders. When I questioned her about it, there was an air of guilt about her and she squirmed uncomfortably. I told her not to do that again and let it passed.

I am sure it was done with the collusion of the management. The average customer here spends maybe like $20, and our final tab came up to $140, so you see the disparity. Were I the pub owner, I’d load the free spending customers with freebies to ensure their continued patronage.

But we had set ourselves up to be taken. We could have been more careful. Although not too expensive, it’s nevertheless a lesson learnt.

[Faidenk]

This is the one I took after I rejected the girl sitting with me due to her numerous calls on her mobile. Not that I want her undivided attention, you understand, but..... damned, I want her undivided attention.



One more of her.



I was strongly recommended to this one on the premise she is a 'fuck machine', but I wasn't really into her but hate to disappoint the guy who seemed so anxious for me to try her. Truth be told, I didn't really enjoy the encounter that much and up to day I still think about what would have been.




This young lady was fun but was unavailable that day. The next time I went there, she was no longer working. Pity.

[Faidenk]

One more of the young lady.




I still can't get this one out of my head.

[yanz]

Really excellent write up and beautiful pics to go along.
Makes reading your diary an absolute joy.

[Pink_Flyod]

Faidenk, you make me to rethink my itinerary for next month... is 48 hours on the ground good enough ? The laotian lady was a stunner... Hmmm next month, I think I should visit my client in PP.

[lechlee]

Hey, nice itinerary!~ i am planning to go to Cambodia end of year- are all your cost stated in your report in US dollar or Sing dollar? Why do you rent the apartment for a year?? Thanks!

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by Pink_Flyod

Faidenk, you make me to rethink my itinerary for next month... is 48 hours on the ground good enough ? The laotian lady was a stunner... Hmmm next month, I think I should visit my client in PP.

In my opinion. the Laotian girls beats all the others hands down. The are beautiful, gentle and reminds me of the Thai of maybe 20 years back. Unfortunately the Thais have 'progressed' to greedy money grabbing mercenaries who schemed to get out of the LT contracted with 'brother accident', 'sister sick' stories. Looking at her pic again is making my right nut hard.

48 hours is good, in fact any longer and it might get a little boring. I mean how many times can a person screw before it gets saturated. Oops! I forget I was screwing something like 4 times a day for 2 weeks continuously (in my 20s).

The Cambodian girls, well, they are still fairly unspoilt but don't bet on them staying that way for too long.

Just want to clarify that I met the Laos stunner in Pakse, about 50km into Laos from te Cambodian border.

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by lechlee

Hey, nice itinerary!~ i am planning to go to Cambodia end of year- are all your cost stated in your report in US dollar or Sing dollar? Why do you rent the apartment for a year?? Thanks!

Yes, all prices are in USD. The USD is the de facto currency here. You used it to pay the tuk-tuk, motodop, taxis, it's accepted at the local wet markets, beer gardens, KTV. It is getting so I carry only USD in my procket with a handful of riels for the small stuff.

Renting an apartment makes sense for me as I live here now. The cheapest liveable hotel I can find costs $12 a room night, which adds up to $360 a month. The apartment costs me $160 with everything, privacy, security and no unwanted visits form would=be stalker girlfriends who find cutting off your left nut justified punishment for your infidelity.

[woot]

Dear Faidenk,

I find it hard to believe that you are not highly educated =). I have a masters degree but I would struggle to write in such eloquent tones. For this, I have the utmost respect for you.

Thank you for your insight into Cambodia. Seems the girls are not terribly cheap there given that its $40 USD a pop. Is this normal or farang pricing structure?

Hope to hear from you & love the pictures

Cheers,

Bro Woot