Lizzy_Loo O.S: June 2006

Raffle Girl

Well kids I am off to Vietnam but also wanted to tell you about the Soccer night at Monkey.
There is a great organization in Sihanoukville called M'lop Tapang, which is a center for street kids. Basically they raise money by selling the Kraft made by the kids which in turn helps to get them an education and keep them off the streets. It also helps save the sanity of traveler, as they waste away their days at the beach, by having less hawkers harass them. Which as you know is my fav thing to have to endure.
Anyway, a fund raising opportunity seemed to pop up with the World Cup English Soccer match. Plus considering the place is over run with the fanatically patriotic Brits what a better opportunity to hire a projector, have life size David Beckhams and the like, racing around a wall in aid to kick a round leather object, consume an unimaginable amount of alcohol and yell at the screen.
All alcohol consumed had a decent sum donated to charity by the very decent boys of Monkey....And I was the Raffle Girl. I was given the honor by the Amazingly lovely miss Claire to go around selling raffle tickets. Well I took this on as a personal challenge to raise as much as possible in the time I had. Using my personal charm ( No. I did not threaten to beat anyone up!) I made a decent amount of cash by guilting a few unsuspecting people and playing on the fact that they were as full as a boot. Though I didn't quite get to Red Cross standards in the fund raising ability I didn't shy away from the challenge. Can you believe it though...When it came to me standing in front of 70 or so people I...Yes ME all of a sudden became shy!!!!! And I couldn't call out the numbers...But I think that was the left over effect of thinking that some one there was a bit nice and in a school yard way didn't want to make a git of myself. Ridiculous considering that's all I did at Monkey.
Anyway...That's a whole different blog.
I had to leave today and it was all a bit sad. Anyone who has traveled will understand. Once you meet a great group of people or some place that is like "home" leaving it is like leaving a little of your self behind. Because one day you may never return.

Well, Monkey Republic decided to give Paul, Lou and Kate a going away party as well as a cash injection for the slow season. We all took an opportunity to drop flyers down at the beach. Paul, Jamie and I went together and my decision was only good looking males were to get a flyer. All for my own personal interest of course..Oh and for Paul and Jamie too. Well I can tell you there was not too many opportunities for that..... Oh well...

The party night started a little slow but Lou took up the role of the-best-free-shots-hander-out-babe-ever (As disgusting as they were) and the party started to pick up and the not so happy party mood shifted....Well at least it did for me, after a few Cocktails compliments of Paul. My payment for a hair cut. Being the shy, wall flower that I am I took in in my stride to entertain a few people by giving them my (well Dan's) rendition of my best Michael Flatterly Irish dancing, a few smooth maneuvers on the dance floor and just plain out right stupidity. Oh and a few cleavage shots too. Not at all like me I know but I really decided it was time to come out of my shell.
Leesa you would have been well impressed with my dance floor moves, especially as a fellow member of the Dance floor police. They were so worth a red card and really I should have been sent off.
And that's just how the night went on really....And lucky for me there was a little romance too...But I'm not telling you who....
The following day The Slutty Sevens moved on with my fav Munch Bunch member, Jamie. And I was left to take up my usual place at the bar, and tend to my little hang over, and feeling of loss. It was a strange day being with out the others there and I really don't think Monkey will quite be the same either....
Tomorrow I am off to Vietnam.....

The Monkey Republic

This is the place you come to stay for a few days and end up staying for an eternity...If you have it.
The crew at this stop are amazing and we adopted each other as a little family instantly. The "parents", so to speak (Or maybe I should say parental figures)are Lee (Brit from the bus with flyer) and Scott... And the golden Children are "The Slutty Seven" 3 Amazing Brits, Lou, Kate and Paul..Room 7. All other adopted children stem from there.
I had the luck of being adopted by chance of a small make up drag moment. You see Paul required assistance for make up, in drag, for a party. And well, who else better than me. See Dan, all those evenings watching you apply make up and squish your self and you bits in to a small corset weren't a real waste. Lucky I had some skill cause this automatically got me in to the cool group!!! Oh, and my charming personality. Of course. HEhe.
That evening was great, I even met Jamie (yet another Brit...The place was swarming) It was my brother in reincarnate...Well if you were dead..Sorry Dan.
And there are so many others in Le Familiar.
Jamie and I assumed the role of honorary boyfriend and girlfriend. Well,until either found a suitable male other.
Yes he was even gay! He was the one to make me laugh the most and was completely happy to indulge my ballet, Irish Dancing and really bad playing of pool. Oh, and the constant barrage of hugs and Chinese burns.
I really do think he was Dan's twin and they were separated at birth!
There was plenty of debauchery and few nights of sleepless-ness to be had. Even nights of communal meals. Which in all of my time traveling was a first.
Than there was the constant cynical comments and banter between all. Especially Lee who is some what of a smart arse. You see he was so insulted I handed back his flyer at the bus...Especially from a New Zealander!!! A WHAT!! And so the joke stayed and no amount of explaining was going put an end to it.. It was useless to explain that it simply was a gesture of not to waste what is not wanted.
We all seemed to concerntrate our presence at the bar and that's generally where you'd find us hours later. I am the only non alcoholic bar fly!!
Then there was the night before the party!! This is when we became the Munch Bunch!
Yes munch bunch... We were given fruit personas by each other that best described our personalities.
Jamie was a Banana. Slightly bent, but once you peel back the skin it's full of mushy goodness and is a natural anti depressant.
I was rhubarb...A first I can be a bit sour but if you cook me right with a little sugar I can be sweet and every one always loves a bit of rhubarb.
Paul was Marks and Spences fruit Salad. He had many faces and something your Gran would approve of.
Lou is a Cherry..Smoothie on the outside, Yummy on the in and always enjoys being on top.
Kate was a strawberry. Sweet juicy but sometimes a little seedy.
Lee is a tomato.... Plain but goes with anything, can be acidic and times and always seedy. Cheap as well.
See these are the things you do at the Monkey Republic...
Then there was the party.....

Sihanoukville

The trip to Sihanoukville was one of the worse things I've had to endure!
Think about this...... 7.30 am I'm loaded on to a moto, backpack and all! The driver can hardly steer and I feel really unsafe!
We manage by way of miracle to get to the bus without meeting our doom and I'm pushed on to a bus that I hope is the right one.
Finally after some deliberation we are off and I really couldn't have cared if we were off to the moon, we were just off. Not ten minutes into the trip the TV is on and out blares the Khmer music at decibels that are very unnatural for the human ear. I thought my life was going to end by bleeding from my ears!
Finally the bus stops and I'm practically pushing old ladies, small children and the disabled out of the way to escape the bus.
We had to get back on the bus eventually and I, not a religious person, thought my prayers were answered as the music remained off. How ever in it's place was a Khmer movie. This is far worse than the music and very much at similar decibels. You see not only do I have to listen to something loud, the acting is worse than a bad school musical and the words are delivered so shrill it would be heard by dogs light years away. There is only so much a person can endure!
I put my ear plugs in and still this didn't help me. Moaning to myself softly and having my hands placed over my ears still did little to cut out the sound. I thought that I was going to lose the plot and today would have been a bad day if I was carrying a gun. That TV surely would have got it!
Gladly we arrive before I lost my sanity and I found my self at the bus stop NOT actually being harassed by Motodop drivers. I was very scared that something unnatural had happened. I was handed a flyer to a guest house but decided it was a little out of my price range and handed it back to the nice Pommy boy who gave it to me. On the Moto and off to find a guess house I had seen on a flyer in PP. Ahhh you see it was not to be found so I ended up at Monkey Republic....The place on the flyer!!! And this is where it all began.....

Back to Phnom Phen

Well I was back in Phnom Phen and the only thing I really did was squander away money at the markets and hide from the public with my manky disease. All is okay though and I was told my manky bits were me burning from the inside out!
Nice to know that you can cook yourself from the inside out and end up with a nasty burn that peels and looks like your a leper. I think it's almost gone unless there's going to be a relapse!

Hello all,
Dan here! I have posted some photos for Lizzy, but there are more to come! So be patient as it took me well over an hour to post these ones and I am sure there are enough there to keep you satisfied for a while! I will try and post some more next week so you can see what else Lizzy has been up to!
So for now, enjoy and I will post soon!!!
Dan : )