East Eats West

No donations to begging Cambodian Street Children

Picture: Happy orphans at the Sangkheum Orphanage in Siem Reap

Around the Old Market in Siem Reap and in other tourist places they can be found in droves: shabbily-clad young children, sometimes with little babies on their arms, begging for money or food. I sometimes get asked by tourists if it is wise to donate money in order to alleviate the kids’ misery or not. My answer is an absolute no, do not donate money directly! The kids are part of adult-run gangs which exploiting the kids, sometimes "renting" them from poor parents. The gang leaders intentionally starve the kids to make them look better “marketable” and beat them if they do not beg enough. Giving money does not help the kids but just keeps the vicious cycle going. There are many NGOs, like KADO, in Cambodia reaching out to help the kids but unfortunately the kids employed by gangs are hard to get hold off. Therefore please do not give any money to these kids but donate instead directly to local NGOs like The Sangkheum Centre, Friends, Krousar Thmey or Kantha Bopha Hospital.

Want more kisses from your missus, go to Shenga Lingerie shop in Siem Reap

Picture: Stephanie founder of Shenga Silk Lingerie, displaying one her silk fair-trade bras (actually not her personal one...)

Tired of cheap or fake silk scarves? Do you really want to impress your mistress and get an eyeful for yourself? Then you should go to the Shenga Lingerie Shop on the second floor of the Tigre du Papier Restaurant on Pub Street in Siem Reap. Founded and run by 26 years old Stephanie from France Shenga the shop has a small and charming collection of Cambodian silk lingerie in tempting designs. Not only is silk non-allergic, it also absorbs easily 30% water without crumbling and is nice and cool to wear. The designs are all from Stephanie and the silk comes from two Cambodian NGOs paying fair wages. The pieces are then sown together by four seamstresses in Siem Reap. Stephanie is careful to operate according to fair-trade principles, paying all the workers involved a decent salary and only producing by hand and locally. Stephanie started one year ago from scratch after arriving from a textile engineering school in France. Her shop with four staff opened on the 30th of March after she had heard many times complaints by foreigners that there is no Western-style underwear to be bought in Siem Reap. So for less than 45$ you can buy wonderful panties and bras that make your missus sure look and feel good.

Kids playing video games in Siem Reap

Have you ever wondered where all the old-time video-game consoles went? I found a few of them here in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Chocolate Nirwana in Siem Reap

 Picture: The Mousse Chocolate Cake at the Hotel de la Paix in Siem Reap

There are two things I do not like in Asia: traditional music and desserts. Me being Swiss I just have to have my weekly intake of creamy chocolate. I am always on a mission to find the best chocolate in town and yes, also in a rough and developing tourist destination as Siem Reap one can find good desserts. Here are my three top picks:

• Chocolate Mousse Cake (pictured above) with coconut flakes on top at the Hotel de la Paix. Enjoy the cake in the super trendy lounge with free WIFI
• Chocolate Brownie with Nuts at The Blue Pumpkin Restaurant is hard to beat for sheer wow-factor and moistness! Eat the Brownie upstairs in the futuristic and comfy lounge with free WIFI
• And last but not least the very best Mousse au Chocolate in town for years - Barrio Restaurant right next to Hotel de la Paix

And for a modest 1.5-2.5$ you can get your daily fix of chocolate-happiness at low cost!

Far is not always that far

Never ask a Singaporean if something is far because nothing is far in Singapore. Nevertheless you might hear someone saying that something is far, meaning farther away then for example Suntek city or more than a 15 minutes cab-ride. In contrast Americans would not mind to drive for 3-4 hours one way to visit friends and relatives in a neighboring town, their sense of distance being greatly affected by a vast country as I learned when I lived in San Franciso. For Swiss on the other hand everything is far when it is outside the town or the canton. When I lived in Bern, the Swiss capital, a one-hour drive away from Zurich, the biggest city, many friends considered this as living very far away from “home” and only a few came and visited me. And I am realizing that with my extensive traveling far is only what is more than a four-hour flight away from wherever I am. I guess globalization and budget-airlines make the world indeed smaller.

The lemon meringue and the banana

The Chinese call Westerner who get the Asian Fever "eggs" for being white outside and yellow inside. A Philippino woman I met had a better sounding term for it: lemon meringue. And apparently Asians who live a Western lifestyle, as for example many Hongkong and Singapore inhabitants, are called "bananas" (white inside, yellow outside). And it is no surprise that often bananas and lemon meringue merge for a very exotic kind of dessert.

All sorts of Chinese

Like there is no homogenous Asia there is not only one typical Chinese. People who claim to be Chinese can be found across Asia but it is not always clear what makes them “Chinese”, as many of them do not live in China or Taiwan but in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, the Philippines and elsewhere. The best definition of being Chinese I came across is so far a shared sense of heritage derived from a shared scripture and language, taste for Chinese food and strong sense of family and Chinese ancestry. But then again, it is not that all Chinese feel as one big unity, not at all. For example when I went out with a Hong Kong Chinese friend of mine she liked to point out to me Mainland Chinese, apparently distinguishable through their attire and rougher behavior. And when I spoke to a Singaporean Chinese who lives in Kuala Lumpur, she conceded that she feels a bit superior to Malaysian Chinese (who speak Cantonese in contrast to the Mandarin spoken in Singapore). And then there is the big group of ABCs or American-born Chinese who now return home to Mainland Chinese in flocks. Interestingly the Chinese Diaspora, like the Jewish Diaspora, is spread across the world and perceived as being successful and hard-working business people. Not that this business acumen is admired everywhere as hostilities in Malaysia against the Chinese tells.

Why Swiss do not want to meet Swiss abroad

Every now and then I bump into a friend who proudly introduces me to a fellow countryman. The funny thing is that we Swiss do not like to meet compatriots away from home and that tends to leave my hosts mostly startled. I discussed this issue recently with a Philippino and Singaporean woman and they both agreed that they also dreaded meeting fellow compatriots away from home. In contrary to Korean and Japanese tourists, who seem to be magically attracted to home-country restaurants, guest-houses and hotels, I do not want to be reminded of home when I am away. Is it because I am actually want to escape from home and Japanese/Koreans still want to feel at home, at least a bit? Any ideas let me know!

My very own pig

Actually I wanted two water buffalos as they are the coolest animals on the planet by far (okay, camels are cool too). But I found out they are very expensive at 300$ a piece and hard to keep. So I decided to buy a big pig in Siem Reap. Here it is. My friend Soley and his kids from the orphanage take care of it. And the pig already produced many offsprings and makes its owner proud!

Encouraging signs of local entrepreneurism in Siem Reap

Picture: The John McDermott Photo Gallery in Siem Reap

Even though hotels are mushrooming and entrepreneurism is rampant in Siem Reap, the basic infrastructure is ramshackle and the lighting at night out rightly scary for all foreigners. Nevertheless can be the first signs of an urban planning can be seen with the government standardizing sidewalks and block-in off Pub Street at night to traffic. Unfortunately Pub Street, which used to be a quiet haunt for the expats, has turned into a cacophonic wild-array of bars and restaurants. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised to find in a little alley between Pub Street and the Old Market a quiet alley with lovely restaurants, two photographers galleries of McDermott and Klick, the Frangipani Spa and a fair-trade shop selling silk lingerie. Being a tiny alley motorcycles cannot drive and the constant hassle of non-busy taxi drivers can be avoided. What a pleasant surprise to find a little alley that offers relive from the constant traffic around the old city.