The Overly Detailed Explanatory Blog Post Title

Check out this picture below. Do you know what that is?

What am I?

It's a water monitor. A water monitor is a lizard, the second largest species of lizard. And they are common in parts of Southeast Asia. In particular, they are common in Lumphini Park right in the middle of Bangkok. That's where I saw the one above. But look at this one below. Do you know what that is?

And what am I?

I think it must be a land monitor, right? I mean, if it isn't in the water, it can't be a water monitor. What's more, following my reasoning to its logical or illogical extreme, I think if you moved this reptile into a school and placed it beside the lockers, it would be a hall monitor. This is sound reasoning, I'm sure.

On a recent day excursion into Bangkok, we walked through Lumphini Park. We saw a lot of water monitors, among other things. For example, we saw the King Rama VI Memorial.

It's like six King Ramas rolled into one

There have been many kings named Rama, the present king is Rama X. Basically this entire dynasty which began in the early 1800s have all taken the name Rama when they ascend to the throne. It is named for Rama, an avatar of Vishnu who ruled as a king in the mortal world. He was an ideal ruler according to Hindu mythology, so it is a name that indicates a good king.

From the park, we took a bus across town. But there was a bit of a story getting to the bus stop. As we were walking, speaking to one another in English, a young lady stopped us. She was European, maybe British. Her English seems like British English. But she was having a problem. She had two cell phones, but had put a SIM card in one of the phones which wasn't working. She needed to switch the SIM card over to the other phone. But what she needed was one of those really thin pins you use to open the SIM card slot on your phone. She stopped us to ask if we had anything like that, maybe a paper clip. (Since we spoke English, she was able to communicate with us.)

It so happens that I carry exactly that pin with me in my wallet. There is a little zipper pouch and I keep one of those pins from one of the SIM cards we once purchased. Why do I do that? Because Alrica and I have to change SIM cards often enough as we move from one country to another that I want to be sure we are able to do so.

Wow, the young lady was so grateful. Apparently she had been asking at shops and they didn't understand her. No one had been able to help her. She was just hoping we had a paper clip or something. An actual pin that was designed to open the SIM card slot, this was beyond her dreams.

So after that, we made it to the bus stop. That was a long waiting process. The traffic in Bangkok is pretty intense. Now, at the bus stop, there was a young woman waiting. And her shirt read "Dissentery". Why would you want your shirt to say that? Maybe she thinks it indicates that she dissents, she is a dissenter. And if English isn't your first language, that might be the only interpretation that you think of. But if English is your first language, this immediately puts "dysentary" into your mind. And I don't think anyone wants clothing that announces that they are plagued with that particular condition.

When our bus did arrive, we took it through the city and across the river. We got out near the Wat Suwan, which is a complex. But the wat was not our goal.

Across from the wat is a shopping center called Iconsiam. In this shopping center, there is a floating market. But there is also a fountain, one of those fountains with lights that does a choreographed show to recorded music. This fountain was much smaller than one in Kuala Lumpur. And the fountain in Kuala Lumpur was smaller than the one I blogged about in Dubai. But this one had the most epic name of them all!

Is this not the most iconic (and multimedia) name?

I love that the designers of Iconsiam chose this name for their fountain. The Iconic Multimedia Water Feature. So expository and conceited all at once. To declare their own fountain as iconic is some chutzpah. What justified that? Okay, I get it. The mall itself is called Iconsiam. So being iconic is on brand. But it comes across as a bit artificial, like the Smurfs using the word "smurf" at various points in a sentence to fill in other words, nouns, verbs, adjectives, it could be anything! I guess anything can be iconic too, if you just name it as such.

Does this qualify as iconic?

As I have more humility, I did not declare my own blog post as being "iconic", but I was inspired by the name of the fountain. Perhaps I should have called my post iconic, but I'm a bit of a dissenter. Maybe I'm suffering from dissentery.

Do You Wanna Steal a Slogan?

We are nearing the end of our time in Phnom Penh. But we've had a few extra adventures. One night we walked along the Chaktomuk Walk Street. That's a bit of a misnomer as the street is full of cars. But it is next to a wide walkway along the river. Which river? Let me tell you.

There is a walking part, look to the left.

Long before the city of Phnom Penh was a city with the name Phnom Penh, this region was called Chaktomuk. It means "the place where four rivers come together." Now, this isn't four rivers merging into one river, or even three rivers in and one river out. It is actually two rivers in and two rivers out. Chaktomuk is where the Mekong River (or Upper Mekong River) meets the Tonle Sap River. But then, just downstream of the confluence, the river splits into two separate outlets: The Lower Mekong River and the Bassac River. You know how sometimes rivers split and then come back together so you get islands in the river. Well, here the river splits and it never comes back together. Both the Lower Mekong River and the Bassac River flow separately through Cambodia and a chunk of Vietnam and reach the East Vietnam Sea at two different places.

Boats named for a Monkey God

We were walking along the Tonle Sap, just upstream of the confluence. We bought a bowl of noodles and soup that was being carried on a yoke over a woman's back. We saw party boats along the river. It was a very lively and full atmosphere. (It was also a public holiday.)

Maybe this is a large creature riding a small elephant. Or maybe he is just one virile guy.

The next day we visited a big wat called Wat Phnom Daun Penh. There was a temple with lots of representations of Buddha, people praying, and offerings, including a two dollar bill.

The rare two dollar bill. So rare it is worth two dollars.

We also stopped at an ice cream shop called Mixue. It is a chain that we have seen in several Southeast Asian countries, but this is first time we stopped in one. I was fascinated by their posters and slogans. Mixue has, as its illustrated sales creature, a snowman who wears a crown. They call him Snowking. Here is the general slogan written in English.

Hey, Snowking, are we a happy family?

Anyone remember Barney? You know the man-sized purple dinosaur that was on children's television? I think they stole this slogan! But if you are thinking, "hey, it's just a coincidence," then check out the following.

It does end in Snowking, not snowman, so totally different.

If any of my Lehman Engel BMI friends see this, tell Kristen. But remind her that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I admit that I did enjoy one of their advertising posters.

When squeezing isn't enough

Putting that lemon in its place. Maybe this can spawn a new Olympic sport: Citrus Boxing.

Probably not. It would upset the SPCSF, the Society for Protection from Cruelty to Sour Fruits. And you don't want to get that organization on your bad side!

Bonus signage

Singulars and Plurals and Atrocities

Let me pose this question to you: What is the singular of boba?

The Independence Monument in Phnom Penh (which has nothing to do with boba)

I assume many people know what I mean by boba, especially those in the western half of the United States. Boba are tapioca pearls found in drinks, often called boba tea. I learned that boba were created in Taiwan, and the name is based on the Chinese word for breast. If you are from the eastern half of the United States, you probably call this drink bubble tea. I'm not sure where the dividing line is.

In Southeast Asia, it is called boba, and there are plenty of varieties of it. You don't even have to get tea, which is good for me, since I am not a fan of tea. There are many other flavored drinks with boba in them. Half of the fun for me is capturing and sucking out each individual tapioca pearl with my straw. But what do I call just one tapioca pearl?

We asked our kids and my son says the singular of boba is boba. The internet agrees with him. But I prefer to use bobus. So when I get one successfully out through my straw I say "bobus!"

A small wat

Right now, Alrica and I are in Phnom Penh and it leads me to a second question of similar form. What is the plural of Prius. I'm going with Pria. You would not believe how popular Pria are here. First, Toyota and Lexus hold a gigantic share of the car market here, if what I see on the streets is any indication. Hybrids are very popular, and the Toyota Prius is everywhere.

Three Pria side by side parked at a mall.

We arrived in Phnom Penh on a Sunday night. They have a brand new airport, less than two months old. It is very new looking, super clean. But it is also a long way out of the city. We took the local bus to get here, which cost us 1500 Cambodian riels (about 38 cents) per person. For the most part it was great, but we waited a long time for the bus. When it did finally arrive, Alrica had an experience with another passenger that would be one of those stereotypical American experiences, except I don't think he was American (based on his English, but he could be an American who learned English as a second language.) This man only had US dollars and didn't have any Cambodian riels. The bus driver had no way to take US dollars. And the man said to Alrica, "Why won't he take dollars?" Alrica replied, "Because we're in Cambodia."

But before we lambast this poor traveler, I want to explain he isn't entirely unreasonable. The US dollar is sort of a semi-official and semi-unofficial currency in Cambodia. And the history of it is somewhat unique in that it wasn't a governmental decision. Here's what happened:

Later in this post, I will talk some about the Khmer Rouge, which was a political group in power in Cambodia from 1974 to 1979. One of their many misguided ideas was to eliminate money from the society. They discontinued making riels and destroyed the banking industry. Riels returned in 1980, but the confidence that Cambodians had in their banks was gone.

There are a lot of chained off sidewalks (because people use sidewalks like parking lots) but either is problematic for pedestrians

In the first half of the 1990s, the Khmer riel (which is what Cambodians call their currency) underwent rapid hyperinflation. People would see a day to day change in their purchasing power. They had the same number of riels, but they could buy so much less than the previous day. The volatility of the currency was wild and both merchants and consumers were suffering. Then, in 1994, merchants stopped accepting riels. This wasn't a governmental policy. It was the people themselves who couldn't rely on the currency to still be good tomorrow. So businesses started accepting only US dollars for purchases. Soon, everyone was using dollars. Cambodian banks were stocking US currency in the ATM machines.

Why US Dollars? A few reasons. It was a very stable currency. The UN was sending humanitarian aid, often in the form of US dollars. And many Cambodians abroad were sending money (generally US dollars) home to their families.

Eventually, the government got riels back in circulation with an unofficial exchange rate of 4100 riels to one US dollar. But that is unofficial and it does fluctuate. Right now it is about 4000 riels for one dollar. In the villages, only riels are used. But in the cities, lots of businesses like hotels and restaurants will take dollars. In fact, plenty of them give their prices on the menus in dollars. They will also take riels. And if you get change, it will almost always be in riels. They government is trying to phase out US dollars, which is not going well. But they did phase out $1, $2, and $5 bills. So businesses can't make change that is less than $10 in dollars. It has to be in riels. So Cambodia today really runs with two currencies. Dare I say they have currency concurrency?

Back to the man on the bus. Unfortunately for him, public buses (which cost way less than $10) are one of those businesses that does not take US dollars, only Khmer riels. In the end, some of the Cambodians on the bus put up the money for the man to ride. (And the bus driver was also going to let him ride without paying.) That's how kind the Cambodians are.

On Monday, we took a cooking class. We made Green Mango Salad, Yellow Curry Chicken, and Banana Palm dessert. It started with a trip to a market where we bought our meat and vegetables and fruits and dry goods. Then we returned to the hotel/restaurant where we got to peel, slice, mix, and cook. We enjoyed the fruit of our own labors (and the vegetable of our own labors) for lunch.

Alrica in her cooking hat with her green mango salad

Here is another bus story. On the way back from the cooking class, we took another local bus. This one was very crowded and we had to stand. No big deal. But there was a Buddhist monk on the bus. You always know Buddhist monks because they are bald and wear orange robes. The monk had a seat. (Even if he hadn't had a seat, someone would have given him one, he's a monk.) The monk, who only spoke Khmer, talked to another man who was also standing that spoke both Khmer and English. And the bilingual man explained to Alrica that she had to move further back in the bus. Apparently, it is not acceptable for a woman to have her head higher than the monk's head. Or at least not in the direction that the monk is facing, not where he can see. So either Alrica had to sit on the floor (and there wasn't room for that) or she had to move back so she was behind the monk and out of his range of vision. Naturally, Alrica moved. We try to be considerate of other cultures and their beliefs. But the American in me was also thinking, "but this is what happens on buses! Why take a bus if you can't handle something that naturally occurs on a bus?"

My yellow curry, rice, and banana palm dessert

Tuesday we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. It was super informative, but not fun. Still, it is important that this event is never forgotten. Here is a brief overview.

During the Vietnam War, the United States bombed the bejeebies (technical military term) out of Cambodia to try to disrupt the North Vietnamese Army's supply lines. This devastated the countryside and agricultural sector of Cambodia and sent many people into the cities. But there wasn't enough work for all these people and it was a crisis. Faith in the current government was lost. In 1975, the Cambodian Communist Party, which called itself the Khmer Rouge, gained tons of support with a promise of change. They took power. But their vision was horrifying.

The leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, wanted to return Cambodia to its agrarian roots. The Khmer Rouge military marched into the cities on April 17, 1976 and immediately began clearing them out. They told the people that more US bombings were expected and they were going to be moved for their own safety until the bombings were over. This was a lie. In truth, they moved people out into the countryside. Everyone was moved. Phnom Penh had been a city of 3 million people and soon it was a ghost town. Cambodians were all made to be farmers (or a few other professions like blacksmiths that could support farming.) People who had no idea how to grow rice were told to grow rice. The government demanded 3 tons of rice per hectare per year, regardless of the quality of the land where these people were working. Of course, it wasn't possible. People were weak and starving.

But that's not the genocide. It gets worse. The Khmer Rouge considered some people the "old people." That has nothing to do with age. It is the people who were engaged in farming and the old Cambodian professions. Others were "new people", including the educated, those working in banking, medicine, or education. These new people were shipped off to "security centers" which we kept secret. They were considered enemies of the revolution, enemies of the Khmer Rouge. They were tortured in horrible ways to get confessions and to name co-conspirators. Then they were murdered.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide museum was one of these security centers, called S21. The government took over a high school (no longer a high school since they eliminated education.) They turned it into a prison camp. Here people were held in leg irons, treated like animals, barely fed, and tortured up to three times a day. It wasn't just the "new people" either. Anyone who fell out of favor with the Khmer Rouge was sent to a security center.

Once you finally confessed to the satisfaction of the interrogators, you were sent to die. They didn't want to waste bullets, so most people were killed by bludgeoning and then had their throats slit, just to make sure. Children were separated from parents and killed.

Tuol Sleng Building C. The barbed wire is because someone managed to jump and kill himself. They didn't want that. You weren't allowed to die until they killed you.

S21 ran from 1976 until liberation in 1979. The Vietnamese army marched into Cambodia and flushed the Khmer Rouge out of much of the country. The Khmer Rouge fled to places near the Thailand border and the people were freed. And even after this, the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China continued to accept the Khmer Rouge as the official government of Cambodia for another couple decades. But back to 1979, when the staff at S21 learned the Vietnamese Army was approaching, they destroyed as many records as they could. They had some prisoners there and killed 14 of them on the spot. They took a few more with them as they relocated. It is estimated that over 18,000 people were imprisoned at S21 while it was in operation. Only 12 survived. And the destruction of records meant most of the prisoners are, to this day, unidentified. Their families don't know what happened to them, or even if they were at S21 or one of the other security centers in the country.

It is a horrible piece of history, but I am glad I learned more about it. It is these atrocities that we must never forget.

Sadly, it is not the only one. We speak of atrocities and genocides in the plural. But one day, maybe we can speak of their count being zero. That should be our ultimate goal.