What a Weekend Should be Like

There are 26 national holidays in Cambodia. This coming week Pcumben holiday will close many businesses from Monday - Wednesday and many (if not most) of Cambodians living and working in Phnom Penh will return to their province for the holiday. I really like to stay in Phnom Penh during these holidays because it is a time when there are no traffic jams and when I can ride my bike much faster and further without having to worry about all the traffic.

I am an early-riser, usually up before 5:00, but on Saturday morning after having my usual morning devotional time I decided to go back to sleep and ended up sleeping until 9:00! I then went to a venture capital conference that Neth had been asked to emcee. (He did a great job!) It was at the Raffles Hotel, probably the nicest hotel in Phnom Penh. Investors from different countries heard nearly 20 presentations from Cambodian start-up businesses that had an environmental aspect to their business model. I personally loved one of the businesses that is starting organic gardening and I got some of their lettuce. Another business harvests Moringa, which has high nutritional and medicinal value (especially for someone like me with arthritis). I also got some Moringa and have started using it in my protein shakes. But I am really proud to say that one of the businesses that hired ESC for their recruitments won both the "best presentation" and "highest ROI" awards. The conference "eco-preneur" has a double meaning: economics and ecology.

 Following the conference (and a HUGE delicious lunch at Raffles) I took advantage of the sparse traffic and hopped on my bike for an afternoon ride. One of my Khmer friends recommended taking the ferry from Koh Pich (Diamond Island) across the river to the island where she said that there is nice bike riding. Having experienced Washington State Ferries to the San Juan Islands I asked my friend how often the ferries ran and she looked at me like I just asked the dumbest question ever. They run all the time. Sure enough, I got down to the ferry and there was one loading up. The fare was 2,000 riel roundtrip (50 cents). It was a beautiful day and a lovely ride on the ferry except for the time that a moto driver was trying to turn around on the packed ferry and ran into my leg. I don't think that my friend took into consideration the kind of bike that I ride because the roads on the island were very bumpy and sometimes loose stone or sand. Still, it was a nice adventure.

 

 

 

The Most Important Khmer Word That I have Learned

At the Asian Christian Conference this evening I learned that the written Khmer word for Jesus is something like an "M" with a large "C" wrapped around it. "Merry Christmas", I thought.

 

Some Funny Signs

Driving around Phnom Penh I get some good laughs reading signs that have been printed prior to proper proofing. I am going to share pictures of some of my favorite signs with you, but want to also share that if I were to try to design a sign in any language other than in English I am sure that my mistakes would be much bigger than any of these.

A long time ago, this business started selling all kinds of stainless.
They are still selling all kinds of stainless. This is what Siri does to "steel"
when said by someone speaking English with an Asian accent. 

I am afraid to go into this business

1) Seems like a fun place to work
2) Voted 2013 Least Productive Business
 

Feeling sad? Maybe this judo chop will help!

Bonus Picture: This bike is so cool! It is made of bamboo!