8 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

He also has a good friend in his hometown who has a barbershop/hair salon. Keep in mind I have no idea if this is legal or even something regulated by the government, but his friend teaches others how to be a barber and has offered to teach Cam. .... Once he has been trained, he could either open his own shop pretty much anywhere we might live, or work in an established shop. As I said, I have no idea if a license is required or any type of certificate.

6 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Will you be taking an interest in local pursuits to keep yourself occupied?

Why would barbering need a licence or certificate? While there may be such rules in developed countries, I can't imagine that to be the case in Cambodia.

@Keithambrose 's question may be a lot more pertinent now that you have described how Cam will be busy helping families members in various towns.

While volunteering is a great way to stay engaged and make new friends, I read somewhere that even unpaid volunteer work is not permitted, but was that for Thailand or Cambodia? Can't remember.

9 hours ago, jason1975 said:

I love Vietnamese cum! 🤣

Have you tried any other or just sticky rice?

14 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

As for Japanese cum vs. Asian cum, I am partial to Cambodian cum. LOL. Nothing sweeter than that for me.

Must be the "pineapple" ? 🍍

15 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

Not sure what anyone else thinks, but I find the tuk-tuk’s and remorks in Siem Reap much easier to get in and out of.  I always struggled with that in Thailand.  Went to Angkor Market this morning to do a little shopping and went via remork.  It doesn’t bother Cam, but I don’t like trying to carry two or three bags filled with supplies on his motorbike.  Makes me nervous with him trying to juggle the bags plus me.  lol.  He has been very good about driving safely when we are on the motorbike together.  I don’t want to do anything that would cause concern for either of us.

Checked with the reception desk where we are staying and they actually arrange private tours of the temples.  They have several options available…five to be exact.  One includes TonLe Sap but because of the flooding and recent rains she did not recommend it…said it would be quite risky at this time.  So, for now we will cross that off the list.  Cam is interested in the Landmine Museum which they include on one of the packages.  Since he specifically mentioned that, I want to be sure it is included in whatever tour we sign up for.  We just need to decide what tours and what days and let her know.  She will make the necessary arrangements. We also want to visit the Angkor National Museum.  Cam has been before and said it is very interesting.  That kind of surprised me…didn’t really think he would be a museum kind of guy.  May also purchase tickets to Phare Cambodian Circus.  Cam isn’t as interested in that as I am, but said he was willing to go with me.

Cam prepared the black chicken for dinner last night.  It was actually quite tasty.  I thought it was milder and had a sweetness to it from what I am accustomed to.  That could be because of the spices and seasoning he used when cooking it…not sure about that.  It was definitely black all the way down to the bones.

Have tried duck twice now in Cambodia and much prefer the duck I had in Bangkok. In Bangkok it tended to come boneless and just the breast meat. Here it comes on the bone and could be any part of the duck. Too much work for too little meat from my perspective. Cam says that is normal here and would be unusual to get it prepared in a similar manner to what we enjoyed in Bangkok. Oh well...

As for Japanese cum vs. Asian cum, I am partial to Cambodian cum. LOL. Nothing sweeter than that for me.

I thought the landmine museum was interesting, if depressing. I gather some parts of the country side are still off limits due to uncleared mine fields. In Siem Reap you can see plenty of victims. I mentioned in another blog the group of amputee musicians who often perform at the crossroads on Pub St.

If I go back to Siem Reap, I really want to see the trained African rats that find the landmines. I missed out on that on my last trip.

Well, the rain has returned.  Woke up around 4:30am to the sound of heavy rains, wind and thunder.  Made a mad dash out of bed to the back porch area where the washing machine is located to rescue the laundry from the drying rack before it could blow away or get drenched.  Cam slept through the entire thing.  Had no idea it was raining and didn’t realize I had left the bedroom.  Assumed I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom.  lol. At least the rain will cool things off a little bit today.  Currently stopped, but forecast is for scattered thunderstorms on and off all day.  Guess we will be hanging close to the apartment today.  Rain also seems to affect internet connection.  Slow or spotty at best today.  At least one time every day the electricity goes out…sometimes for just a few minutes and other times it can last one hour.  Not sure if it is just this particular neighborhood in Siem Reap or just how widespread the outage is…but definitely annoying.

For those of you familiar with Costco (warehouse shopping for members only), they have their own brand called Kirkland. Yesterday when we were shopping at Angkor Supermarket I was surprised to see Kirkland brand products on the shelves. While Costco does have international locations, I don’t believe there are any in Cambodia or Thailand.  Both countries do have Makro which provides a similar type shopping experience.  Curious how Angkor Supermarket manages to sell Kirkland brand products.  I suppose they could have buyers that purchase from one of the Costco locations in China, Japan, Taiwan or South Korea and ship the items to Cambodia. Surely there are other local brands available that would be less costly to carry in house.

Even though the worst of the heavy rains have moved through and flood waters have started to recede, some places are just now starting to experience flooding as the waters move south through the country.  Unfortunately, this is the case for Cam’s hometown.  While they did have heavy rains, they were spared the initial flooding.  However, within the last two days the streets have been flooding as the flowing water passes through.  They are still passable as long as you use caution so as not to stall out the engine.  His sister sent a video she took while driving on her motorbike.  Probably not the safest thing to be doing, but that doesn’t seem to faze anyone here.  Cam called to check on his parents this morning as there is a small stream or creek (my term, not his) that runs through the property directly behind their house.  So far they have not experienced any flooding in their yard or neighborhood.  His mother sent a photo of her standing in the backyard after she returned home from the pagoda.  She also sent photos from inside the pagoda with other women from the neighborhood saying prayers and offering food gifts to the monks for the holiday Pchum Ben.  Everything was still wet from the rains, but no signs of flooding as of now…fingers crossed it stays that way.

12 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

Why would barbering need a licence or certificate? While there may be such rules in developed countries, I can't imagine that to be the case in Cambodia.

@Keithambrose 's question may be a lot more pertinent now that you have described how Cam will be busy helping families members in various towns.

While volunteering is a great way to stay engaged and make new friends, I read somewhere that even unpaid volunteer work is not permitted, but was that for Thailand or Cambodia? Can't remember.

As I said, I really don't know anything about rules or regulations in Cambodia regarding the barber profession...if they even exist. To be honest, that isn't a question I have asked Cam, but probably should. In fact, let me ask him now...okay...there is no requirements for education, no license or certification in Cambodia. If he opens his own shop, depending on where it is located he would need to follow the local business license requirements...that is all. There are actually a couple of barber/cosmetology schools in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, but no standardized curriculum or requirement to attend any school.

Once the new house is finished and I am here full time, I don't know that Cam will be as available to help out his sisters with their businesses...especially if he is learning to be a barber and then has his own shop or is working in a shop on a regular basis. He may still do some construction work for his brother. The venture with goats and turtles will involve his father as well. Turtles won't require too much work. His father used to have 100 chickens on the property. They sold them for meat and also sold the eggs. The goats will definitely require more attention. Not sure how all of this will eventually play out...more trial by error situation I think.

Volunteering in Cambodia is still considered a form of work, so you would need the proper visa (Business) and work permit. The retirement visa...which I have applied for...would not qualify even for volunteer work. I plan to do language exchange with interested persons and also need to learn how to do Khmer cooking. Again, I will just need to see how things play out once I am here on a full time basis.

2 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

Made a mad dash out of bed to the back porch area where the washing machine is located to rescue the laundry from the drying rack before it could blow away or get drenched.  Cam slept through the entire thing.  Had no idea it was raining and didn’t realize I had left the bedroom.  Assumed I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom.

I'm not sure why, but as I read this, I imagined you were living like in Green Acres, the TV show and some of the wild things that are going to be happening and you trying to make sense of it...😆

I'll now refer to you as Oliver.....

3 hours ago, floridarob said:

I'm not sure why, but as I read this, I imagined you were living like in Green Acres, the TV show and some of the wild things that are going to be happening and you trying to make sense of it...😆

I'll now refer to you as Oliver.....

I looked it up on YouTube and now I can't get the theme song out of my head. 😅

I think @jimmie50 could be more of a Lisa, the exotic foreign spouse. 😏🤭

10 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

Volunteering in Cambodia is still considered a form of work, so you would need the proper visa (Business) and work permit. The retirement visa...which I have applied for...would not qualify even for volunteer work.

Thanks for clearing this up. It sounds like a stupid rule, but then again, maybe "volunteering" has been abused in the past by other expats to earn an income on the side.

4 hours ago, mauRICE said:

I think @jimmie50 could be more of a Lisa, the exotic foreign spouse.

I considered this, but having met him, he's Oliver 😉