Khmer Diary

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by sixthghost

Hi bro Faidenk,

I coincidently stumbled on to your thread and I found your writing on your daily life and 'nightlife' very interesting. But what I found most interesting is not the bonk part (but still this make your story interesting kekekeke ), but the mundane details of your daily life. I like to live life at a slower pace.

Yes, I concur with that, sometimes mundane stuff gives a reader a sense of 'bring there'. I've read and enjoy many a travelogues and probably too many X-rated stories, especially here in SBY and I enjoy both. I am at a position where an amalgamation of the 2 would not be out of place. Each complements the other for a better read. I hope I have achieve that.

Originally Posted by sixthghost

If I ever got a chance to visit PP, I would pay a visit to your restaurant and the great writer, maybe you could bring me around the hunting scene.

Great writer? 5555. Just mucking around in my free time, just like I muck around in the kitchen. And yup, if ever you are in PP, feel free to call me.

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by risingeast

Hi Bro Faidenk ! Enjoy reading your posts. Can I look you up when in PP?

No problem, give me a call when you're here. Will PM you my mobile.

[Faidenk]

To residents and visitors of Phnom Penh, this is quite a common occurrence, motorcyclists playing cat and mouse with the men in brown.

The traffic policemen stationed themselves at major hotspots, mainly major road junctions, on the lookout for traffic offenders, like motorists who fail to wear helmets, failing to stop at traffic lights, overloading, having headlights on during the day, going against the flow of traffic, no valid license, the list goes on…

Alerted by a policeman by walkie-talkie, probably in mufti, another team further down the road apprehends the culprits. A team member stands in the middle of the road against the oncoming traffic and points to the culprit to slow down, while the other members waiting at the side are the negotiation and revenue collection team. This is where the fun starts. The culprit, on seeing himself being fingered, makes a U-turn, against the flow of traffic. Sometimes it results in an accident but most time, he gets away with the policeman standing there looking dumber than he looks.
Of course a team member could get on his bike to pursue but is it worth it for a 2,000 riel (USD 0.50) bribe, and risks the chance of getting sued if the motorist(s) are hurt? Not to mention the paperwork.

I’ve seen this at least a dozen times since I got here 6 months ago.

On the subject of traffic in Phnom Penh, and here I assume motorists in Cambodia drive the same way, I append an observation made by a member of the Stickman forum of the driving habits of the Thais which I find most pertinent to the Cambodians'.

•cut you off by passing then turning immediately into a driveway.

•merge into your lane – squeeze your position – a favourite – he will come out of a side street and once he has established forward motion in your direction then he'll just keep squeezing into your lane.

•come out of a side street or driveway on his motosy and not even glance at approaching traffic on his right.

•cut across you when you are proceeding straight on at an intersection (I'm referring to the Thai habit of doing a right hand turn in front of oncoming traffic rather than waiting till after it has passed – I wonder what the road rules say on that subject).

•stop anywhere on the road and bang on the hazard lights (which absolves him from all responsibility for holding up the traffic).

•stop anywhere and not do anything.

•stop anywhere, jump out of the car and cross the road.

•emerge from a driveway and accelerate so slowly that traffic approaching from behind has to brake hard.

•talk on the phone, even motorcyclists. Haven't they heard of hands-free sets?

•drive a bus full of people and compose then send an SMS (I have seen this while sitting in the front seat of a bus, didn't know what the speed was 'cos of the 5 instruments on the dash only one worked – the fuel gauge and the glass on the large dead speedo was broken).

•when stopped at a major intersection on his motosy - start a phone conversation, light a fag and proceed across the stream of traffic 'cos he's turning right.

•carry the whole family on the motosy - all 4 kids, the youngest clutched against the left hip with the left arm so it's only possible to have the right hand on the handlebar (and let's have them all in light clothes and flip flops).

•(one of my favourites) drive along the wrong side of the road at speed, usually on his motosy but sometimes in his car!

•ride his motosy without a helmet.

•ride his motosy with a helmet but the straps flapping in the breeze (I've seen cops do this).

•when turning right cut the corner so tightly that if I'm turning left at the same time I have to dismount mid corner and get off the bitumen.

•sink more than a few cold ones and away we go.

•take off at a lights-controlled intersection and be across the intersection before 'his' lights turn green.

•block the footpath by driving onto it and parking.

I’ve actually considered buying myself a small Honda Dream to get around, costing about $400, but abandon the idea after seeing a couple of traffic accidents and the vulnerability of the motorist, and the fact that I don’t really travel a lot except to commute to work and back, and sometimes to join the lads for a couple of beers (in which case I have to leave the bike somewhere).

[Glock]

unless it is too expensive to hire a driver or rent a taxi , best not to drive on your own (this is the case everywhere , singapore included ).

Originally Posted by Faidenk

I’ve actually considered buying myself a small Honda Dream to get around, costing about $400, but abandon the idea after seeing a couple of traffic accidents and the vulnerability of the motorist, and the fact that I don’t really travel a lot except to commute to work and back, and sometimes to join the lads for a couple of beers (in which case I have to leave the bike somewhere).

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by Glock

unless it is too expensive to hire a driver or rent a taxi , best not to drive on your own (this is the case everywhere , singapore included ).

I was told if you knock down a pedestrian, you better run over him again to ensure he's dead. Your liability is limited to a couple of thousand dollars if he's dead but it could be unlimited if he's disabled.

Don't know whether if it's spoken in jest.

[BlueDragon193]

Originally Posted by Glock

unless it is too expensive to hire a driver or rent a taxi , best not to drive on your own (this is the case everywhere , singapore included ).

Originally Posted by Faidenk

I was told if you knock down a pedestrian, you better run over him again to ensure he's dead. Your liability is limited to a couple of thousand dollars if he's dead but it could be unlimited if he's disabled.

Don't know whether if it's spoken in jest.

What a policy, does that includes the family too.
Also heard in Thailand, if the public motosai or taxis driver got in an accident and are in the wrong the passengers too have to partly compensate the victims but not sure is true or not.

[jvdairlie]

Can anyone tell me whether Hotel Paragon on Sisowath Quay is GF??

[james.lee]

Hello Faidenk,
I just finished reading 13 Pages of your life and adventures in Cambodia, very interesting and I wished that I stumbled upon your thread earlier; I was in PP 27 to 29 January 2011 for some business presentation at Nagaworld, so I stayed there as well since it was my virgin trip.

My Cambodia partners took care of me during the trip but it was merely Beer Garden during those evenings...makan and minum plenty; nothing much to crow about compared to the streets that you hanged out frequently!

I am hopeful that I will be going back there again and I intend to try your infamous BKT, chicken rice and what have you...HAHAHA! Not forgetting the fun part thereafter as well.

I can see that your reviews are very commendable and I hope to touchbase with you real soon.

In the meantime, please PM your contact details and address of your restaurant.

Or kun.

James

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by jvdairlie

Can anyone tell me whether Hotel Paragon on Sisowath Quay is GF??

Paragon, well, if you want to bring a bed-warmer back, you first have to register the companion with the police, stating the reasons an so forth. The invoice from the hotel will show the name him, her or shim. Beyond that, yes, it girl-friendly.


Nah, just fucking with you. Have not heard of any that's not friendly, not even the 5 stars ones.

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by BlueDragon193

What a policy, does that includes the family too.
Also heard in Thailand, if the public motosai or taxis driver got in an accident and are in the wrong the passengers too have to partly compensate the victims but not sure is true or not.

Not too sure about that. Will update when I find out.

[Faidenk]

Originally Posted by james.lee

Hello Faidenk,
I just finished reading 13 Pages of your life and adventures in Cambodia, very interesting and I wished that I stumbled upon your thread earlier; I was in PP 27 to 29 January 2011 for some business presentation at Nagaworld, so I stayed there as well since it was my virgin trip.

My Cambodia partners took care of me during the trip but it was merely Beer Garden during those evenings...makan and minum plenty; nothing much to crow about compared to the streets that you hanged out frequently!

I am hopeful that I will be going back there again and I intend to try your infamous BKT, chicken rice and what have you...HAHAHA! Not forgetting the fun part thereafter as well.

I can see that your reviews are very commendable and I hope to touchbase with you real soon.

In the meantime, please PM your contact details and address of your restaurant.

Or kun.

James

Hmmmm.... infamous....
No worries, there's always next time. Just PM me when the time gets near.

[james.lee]

Originally Posted by Faidenk

Hmmmm.... infamous....
No worries, there's always next time. Just PM me when the time gets near.

Hello Faidenk,
Oops...typo error oi!

James

[GeekyMagician]

WOOOO HOOO!!!!

Went to Cambodia from 11 March 2011 till 14 March 2011. Was a virgin trip to Cambodia. Luckily there's Faidenk!!! He is the most wonderful host that anyone can find!!! Here will be my FR as promised to Faidenk!!! Shouldn’t say it as a promise, it’s a privilege!! It’s the least of all least I could do for all the hospitality that Faidenk had given me!!! For now at least…. Haha!! Beware, this is not entirely an FR on the girls there. It’s also a FR on how good Faidenk is as a host and the places of Cambodia that I went for the benefits of others. Life does not just revolve around sex ya....

Day 1

Arrived in Cambodia round 6 plus their local time. (Cambodia have an hour earlier timezone to Singapore.) Hotel stay is in Inter-Continental. (Don’t really know the road name thou. Kinda difficult to pronounce them… Hahaha.) Met up with my colleages who had been there for a week of business trip. (I'm just there to enjoy my R&R!!! Lucky me!!)

It’s a total of 3 of us for this trip (Excluding Faidenk & Company). Took a tuk tuk and went for dinner in a place along the Riverside (which I don’t know the road name). The price for a tuk tuk is around 3 USD from my place to the Riverside. (After negotiation ya…) It’s still quite a distance to there, so I guess 3 USD is kinda standard rate for it. For nearbys, it should be around 1-2 USD, still depending on the distance. Just negotiate with the driver and settle on a price you feel comfortable with. Main transportation there are tuk tuks for us foreigners. Metered taxis are not vastly available but can be booked with their hotline.

For 3 guys, we had chicken curry with rice, crab meat fried rice, pineapple fried rice, some spring rolls and 3 beers. Cost us roughly 30 USD. Go figure if it’s cheap or expensive on your standard. There after the dinner, I suggested to call “THE MAN”. Hahaha. Met up with Faidenk in a pub called Pickled Parrot which is a few roads away from where I had my dinner. The street number is 104 for Pickled Parrot. The place I had my dinner is 136 or 138. Can’t remember. (You will know the reason later for my memory loss…) It’s a nice place for chill out. No girls there thou. He was playing with a cowboy guy in a game of pool. Faidenk is a real good player. All you guys better watch out when u challenge him there….

After a round of beer, Faidenk brought us 3 “virgins” to the other pubs to have a look-see. 1st up is a pub opposite Pickled Parrot. Forgot the name thou (Sorry Faidenk!! Hahaha). In there, girls flocked to us like hungry piranhas. We were swamped by like 7-9 girls. Got ourselves another round of beers. You see, I tried to be a smart ass and ordered a beer for myself called Kingdom. I thought it was the one I drank over at Pickled Parrot as the beer I had in Pickled Parrot is poured into the Kingdom mug. End up, the Kingdom beer tasted like soya sauce. Singapore style. Clarified with Faidenk and was told the beer I had is Anchor. WTF!!?? By the way, it’s pronounced as An-Chor not Anchor. It’s nice and that’s what I had for my 4 days trip there.
Faidenk is a regular customer of the pubs around those streets. So naturally, you see girls flocked to him than to u first. Hahaha. Any ways, in the 2nd pub, Faidenk had this young girl attached to him. She’s one of the beautiful ones that I have seen there. And trust me when I say she’s beautiful as my standards of beautiful girls are quite high. It’s not common to see such girls in those areas. She have a nice big rack, nice body and most importantly, it’s her face. She had a face of an innocent-SYT-virgin kind. Me and my friends didn’t have any girls attached with us as none of the girls there “suits” us. But who knows, maybe one of those girls are some of you guys’ taste. One Man’s Poison Is Another Man’s Meat.

After around 10 mins, Faidenk’s friend came over to the pub and meet up with us. I don’t know if placing real names are suitable here thou. So I will be calling him Friend 1 (Don’t worry, there won’t a Friend 1-100 for you guys to keep track). Give it around 15 mins of conversations, we are ready to head out to another pub.

From 104, we head back to street number 136. One of my friend went back to the hotel first as he was tired. There’s this pub called Pub 136 that Faidenk recommend, and there we walked over. Once there, the atmosphere is different as there are much more crowd then the previous ones. Imagine the size and arrangements lines of the pubs in Cambodia like Singapore Boat Quay. Except there are more girls sitting outside waiting for you to arrive. Most of the customers there are foreigners like us and those Angmohs. Once in to Pub 136, we sat and had our round of beers. There’s this girl that Faidenk recommend as the Fuck Machine. Her looks was above average. Had a nice smile. Body is in ok shape and size. What turns me on for her is her smile and those highlighted blonde short hair. Woo hooo… But the main problem is the girls can’t really speak English there. Thou they can converse a bit, it’s not really that helpful for us to understand most of the conversations.

Anyhow, in Pub 136, we guys kept chatting on the prices of the girls from having an overnight to per hour. Or should I say we keep chatting mostly on that for the rest of my trip!! Hahaha!! Prices to bring those girls out starts from the Bar Fine. It’s roughly between 7-10 USD per girl depending on the time and place of the pub. Happy hours will be higher and after 11pm will be lower. This amount is to be paid to the pubs as the girls are working for them. After the Bar Fine, it’s up to the girls to charge themselves for overnight or per hours. Hotels rooms are cheap there if you don’t wanna use your own. (Due to some reasons maybe?) Hotel prices range from 15-30 USD per night with a check-out time of 12pm. Depending on what kind of rooms you are looking for, the prices differ. Mostly cheap hotels there are somehow like backpackers hotel standards but with individual rooms and in-room showers. More on the actual prices later.

After our 1 round of beers in Pub 136, we headed for the other pub that my man Faidenk recommend. It’s call Sizzlers. Girls there are the same. Flocked and swamp u up the first round. Haha. Got ourselves the same An-Chor beers and chatted with the girls there. The standards of the girls in pub are quite the same. But still, one man’s poison is another man’s meat. We kept playing around with the girls and surprisingly they are quite fun to be with. Faidenk as usual, will have girls who seems so familiar and close with him. Hahaha!!

We had a lot of beers in Sizzlers as the night went on. I do not know till what the hell the time is, we decided to leave the pubs and head back to rest for the next day. Faidenk and Friend 1 keep asking me and my friend to join them for Teochew porridge at Faidenk’s cafe. We rejected as we are really tired and high. Will be heading over to his cafe for lunch the next day. Need to try those Bak Ku Teh!! But nevertheless, we had a good and fruitful 1st night out with Faidenk & Company. More FR on the remaining days to come.

P.S: Guys, Faidenk is not you would expect him to be/look if you haven’t met him yet. He and Friend 1 is one hell of a drinker and they are excellent ladies charmers!!!

[GeekyMagician]

WOOOO HOOO!!!!

Went to Cambodia from 11 March 2011 till 14 March 2011. Was a virgin trip to Cambodia. Luckily there's Faidenk!!! He is the most wonderful host that anyone can find!!! Here will be my FR as promised to Faidenk!!! Shouldn’t say it as a promise, it’s a privilege!! It’s the least of all least I could do for all the hospitality that Faidenk had given me!!! For now at least…. Haha!! Beware, this is not entirely an FR on the girls there. It’s also a FR on how good Faidenk is as a host.

Day 1

Arrived in Cambodia round 6 plus their local time. (Cambodia have an hour earlier timezone to Singapore.) Hotel stay is in Inter-Continental. (Don’t really know the road name thou. Kinda difficult to pronounce them… Hahaha.) Met up with my colleages who had been there for a week of business trip. (I'm just there to enjoy my R&R!!! Lucky me!!)

It’s a total of 3 of us for this trip (Excluding Faidenk & Company). Took a tuk tuk and went for dinner in a place along the Riverside (which I don’t know the road name). The price for a tuk tuk is around 3 USD from my place to the Riverside. (After negotiation ya…) It’s still quite a distance to there, so I guess 3 USD is kinda standard rate for it. For nearbys, it should be around 1-2 USD, still depending on the distance. Just negotiate with the driver and settle on a price you feel comfortable with. Main transportation there are tuk tuks for us foreigners. Metered taxis are not vastly available but can be booked with their hotline.

For 3 guys, we had chicken curry with rice, crab meat fried rice, pineapple fried rice, some spring rolls and 3 beers. Cost us roughly 30 USD. Go figure if it’s cheap or expensive on your standard. There after the dinner, I suggested to call “THE MAN”. Hahaha. Met up with Faidenk in a pub called Pickled Parrot which is a few roads away from where I had my dinner. The street number is 104 for Pickled Parrot. The place I had my dinner is 136 or 138. Can’t remember. (You will know the reason later for my memory loss…) It’s a nice place for chill out. No girls there thou. He was playing with a cowboy guy in a game of pool. Faidenk is a real good player. All you guys better watch out when u challenge him there….

After a round of beer, Faidenk brought us 3 “virgins” to the other pubs to have a look-see. 1st up is a pub opposite Pickled Parrot. Forgot the name thou (Sorry Faidenk!! Hahaha). In there, girls flocked to us like hungry piranhas. We were swamped by like 7-9 girls. Got ourselves another round of beers. You see, I tried to be a smart ass and ordered a beer for myself called Kingdom. I thought it was the one I drank over at Pickled Parrot as the beer I had in Pickled Parrot is poured into the Kingdom mug. End up, the Kingdom beer tasted like soya sauce. Singapore style. Clarified with Faidenk and was told the beer I had is Anchor. WTF!!?? By the way, it’s pronounced as An-Chor not Anchor. It’s nice and that’s what I had for my 4 days trip there.
Faidenk is a regular customer of the pubs around those streets. So naturally, you see girls flocked to him than to u first. Hahaha. Any ways, in the 2nd pub, Faidenk had this young girl attached to him. She’s one of the beautiful ones that I have seen there. And trust me when I say she’s beautiful as my standards of beautiful girls are quite high. It’s not common to see such girls in those areas. She have a nice big rack, nice body and most importantly, it’s her face. She had a face of an innocent-SYT-virgin kind. Me and my friends didn’t have any girls attached with us as none of the girls there “suits” us. But who knows, maybe one of those girls are some of you guys’ taste. One Man’s Poison Is Another Man’s Meat.

After around 10 mins, Faidenk’s friend came over to the pub and meet up with us. I don’t know if placing real names are suitable here thou. So I will be calling him Friend 1 (Don’t worry, there won’t a Friend 1-100 for you guys to keep track). Give it around 15 mins of conversations, we are ready to head out to another pub.

From 104, we head back to street number 136. One of my friend went back to the hotel first as he was tired. There’s this pub called Pub 136 that Faidenk recommend, and there we walked over. Once there, the atmosphere is different as there are much more crowd then the previous ones. Imagine the size and arrangements lines of the pubs in Cambodia like Singapore Boat Quay. Except there are more girls sitting outside waiting for you to arrive. Most of the customers there are foreigners like us and those Angmohs. Once in to Pub 136, we sat and had our round of beers. There’s this girl that Faidenk recommend as the Fuck Machine. Her looks was above average. Had a nice smile. Body is in ok shape and size. What turns me on for her is her smile and those highlighted blonde short hair. Woo hooo… But the main problem is the girls can’t really speak English there. Thou they can converse a bit, it’s not really that helpful for us to understand most of the conversations.

Anyhow, in Pub 136, we guys kept chatting on the prices of the girls from having an overnight to per hour. Or should I say we keep chatting mostly on that for the rest of my trip!! Hahaha!! Prices to bring those girls out starts from the Bar Fine. It’s roughly between 7-10 USD per girl depending on the time and place of the pub. Happy hours will be higher and after 11pm will be lower. This amount is to be paid to the pubs as the girls are working for them. After the Bar Fine, it’s up to the girls to charge themselves for overnight or per hours. Hotels rooms are cheap there if you don’t wanna use your own. (Due to some reasons maybe?) Hotel prices range from 15-30 USD per night with a check-out time of 12pm. Depending on what kind of rooms you are looking for, the prices differ. Mostly cheap hotels there are somehow like backpackers hotel standards but with individual rooms and in-room showers. More on the actual prices later.

After our 1 round of beers in Pub 136, we headed for the other pub that my man Faidenk recommend. It’s call Sizzlers. Girls there are the same. Flocked and swamp u up the first round. Haha. Got ourselves the same An-Chor beers and chatted with the girls there. The standards of the girls in pub are quite the same. But still, one man’s poison is another man’s meat. We kept playing around with the girls and surprisingly they are quite fun to be with. Faidenk as usual, will have girls who seems so familiar and close with him. Hahaha!!

We had a lot of beers in Sizzlers as the night went on. I do not know till what the hell the time is, we decided to leave the pubs and head back to rest for the next day. Faidenk and Friend 1 keep asking me and my friend to join them for Teochew porridge at Faidenk’s cafe. We rejected as we are really tired and high. Will be heading over to his cafe for lunch the next day. Need to try those Bak Ku Teh!! But nevertheless, we had a good and fruitful 1st night out with Faidenk & Company. More FR on the remaining days to come.

P.S: Guys, Faidenk is not you would expect him to be/look if you haven’t met him yet. He and Friend 1 is one hell of a drinker and they are excellent ladies charmers!!!

[james.lee]

Hello Faidenk,
It looks like I might be coming over Phnom Penh next week or the week after.
I will update.

James