Is this really Toothpaste?

A funny story just popped up in my head as I was brushing my teeth...

My mom's cousin, that was traveling with us, uses an herbal toothpaste and left some residue in the sink. I, thought it was something else and freaked out!

I came out of the bathroom screaming only to find out it was just toothpaste. What kind of toothpaste looks like this? I now know, Asian herbal toothpaste:)

Home Sweet Home

The past 3 weeks have been great, but I am really happy to be home =) There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed. Of course, it was great to see Gerald also. This has been the longest we've been away from each other since his rotation days in Nigeria. I was able to email him throughout the trip and text on Whatsapp, but really didn't get to talk to him on the phone until about 2 weeks into the trip, since he was offshore. Anyhow, I think since we're so use to doing long distance, since the beginning of our 10 year relationship together,  it wasn't a big deal at all.  I'm just a lucky girl to have such a supportive husband =)

The journey home was way too long! The weather was bad in Aberdeen so my flight was cancelled and I had to stay the night in Paris. It wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that Air France did not communicate very well with us regarding the delays. There was no announcement regarding the delays or the cancellation, I just found out by other passengers who were waiting around like I was. After we finally got rebooked and issued a hotel, there was an unattended baggage in the baggage claim area so we weren't allowed to leave the airport until an hour later. After a full 24 hours of traveling, I was ready for some food and a bed. By the time I got to the hotel, it was 12:00 am and the restaurant was closed so no food available. Luckily I had a few bites in the lounge prior to my original flight or else I would have been SOL. I was one of the lucky ones to get rebooked on the 10:00 am flight out the next day so that wasn't too bad. Overall, I don't mind delays or what not, but just wish the airline would do a better job communicating what is happening and going on so we're not left wondering and scrambling around. I'm just happy I got home safe and sound.

First thing I did when I got home was ordered Papa Johns! It was so yummy!

Anyhow, thanks again Cambodia for a wonderful journey and for all those who have followed in my story. I'm so thankful to be able to share this experience with the strongest woman I know, my Mom!

A Day in Phnom Penh

Today was an unforgettable day. We visited the horrifying sites of the killing fields, S-21 Prison, and then onto more pleasant sites of the National Museum, Wat Phnom, the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. I'll have to blog about these in more detail later as there's so many stories to share.

My whole reason for visiting Cambodia was to see the country my parents left behind 30 years ago. I wanted to learn about the past and at the same time help the future of the country any way I can. I might not be able to do much but every bit helps. If everyone here will just do their little bits, I think Cambodia will have a brighter future. Hearing family stories about the struggle and hardships makes me appreciate life like no other. All you can ever ask for in life is life itself and for that I am truly grateful.

To be able to share this story with everyone is a blessing in itself. I have lots of stories to tell so will most likely be blogging here and there about them upon my return to Scotland, so please stay tune....

Until then...more pics:)

Cambodian Beach Life

The next four days will be spent exploring the town of Kompong Som, aka Sihanoukville, to the foreigners. Two weeks into our travels and I'm really craving some American food. Khmer food is great but eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is getting old. Good thing we are staying in the touristy part, there's western food everywhere. Since being here, I've had pizza, sandwiches, pasta, French fries and even Mexican food.

There are a lot of foreign business owners here. And with it, a lot of backpacking tourists. You either see old men with young Cambodian woman (some legit, some not), or hippies just living the beach life. Ive seen a few families and couples here and there but not many. Also, you'll see Cambodian families around but they usually just come for the day to eat the yummy seafood and head back to their town or stay somewhere away from the tourist. We are definitely the only Cambodian group at our hotel, which is owned by a Scottish guy from Old Meldrum!

Anyhow, now on to the town itself. We are staying in the main beach area called Occhentual, where you can find beachfront bars and restaurants, kids selling trinkets, ladies offering massages and the likes. The water here is pretty but I have to say there's a lot of liter around. Since they don't get the necessary funding to keep up with the place, it's not in the best conditions. Most places look run down. I guess you get what you pay for.

We decided to head out to a quieter beach, Otres, the following day and it was a bit better. More peaceful and relaxed and of course a bit more expensive, but just by a dollar or so more for things, which for here, is a lot.

After 2 days of hanging out at the beach we decided to check out the waterfalls for a change of scenery. The next day, we went to Kbal Chayy in the morning and had an unplanned swim:) People here don't wear bathing suits so even though we didn't bring our gear, we still got to enjoy the falls. I had a dress on...haha. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazying around Ream beach and having a yummy seafood lunch of grilled squid, crabs, and prawns. Ream beach was pretty and secluded. However, water is rough around this time of the year so I didn't want to go in for a swim. Not mich else going in here so if you're looking for some liveliness, this is not the place to go.

Today we visited the local markets, and just having a quiet afternoon at rhe hotel due to the rain. Markets here have an abundance of fruits, which I love. Everything else is "same same," meaning like anything else, nothing special. That's what they like to say here when you ask them what the difference is or price of something is. They even have shirts that say "same same, but different." It's quite funny.

Well, 4 more days and back to the Deen. Its been quite the experience here and I know I'll miss it, but kind of ready to wrap things up and head home. My cousin is coming up from Phnom Penh with his family this afternoon so we will spend some time out in the beach again and head back to Phnom Penh tomorrow.

Enjoy the pics!

Road Trip to Sihanoukville

Visiting with family in Thailand was fun and I wish we could have stayed longer but it was time for us to return to Cambodia. Also, I was ready for a hotel and proper toilet. Our next stop was the beach town of Sihanoukville. On the map, it looked pretty close to where we were, however, there wasn't a road that could take us there safely so we had to drive back through Phnom Penh and down. The drive was 10 long hours! It didn't help that my stomach was not up to par after leaving Thailand! Let's just say squatting toilets is not my thing.

Anyhow, we arrived in Sihanoukville early evening to Coolabah hotel. We will be staying here for 4 nights. This leg of the trip is really about chilling and taking it easy so hopefully we can do that.

Chaolao Beach Day

Yes, finally some beach time! I originally wanted to go to one of the island beaches around eastern Thailand but from where we were, it would have been a whole day of travel just to get there and a whole other day back. We opted for one of the local beaches instead. Twelve of us packed into 2 cars and drove out to Chantanburi, Chaolao Beach. Since I didn't have Internet and neither did anyone else, we had to look for a hotel when we got there, which was a bit frustrating. What would we do without Internet! Anyhow, we managed to find a pretty nice property that suited our group perfectly. We spent the afternoon swimming then went out and got some nice, fresh seafood dishes to bring back to the hotel for dinner, which included 3 bottles of liquor. Somehow, we managed to finish all 3 bottles between the 6 of us that were drinking. The night was fun and I ended up sick...go figure. Anyhow, it was a celebration of meeting cousins for the first time so it's all good. Even though we had a hard time understanding each other at times, since they speak Thai, we got some good laughs in. We really enjoyed ourselves and hope to see them again one day soon.

Battambang to Thailand

We traveled 3 hours from Siem Reap to Battambang by car and arrived at a little oasis in the rice paddies of Battambang. It was a nice change from the busy streets of Siem Reap. The hotel was owned by Jan and Phary, a Dutch and Cambodian couple. We were using Battambang as a base to visit some family members who live out in the country. Out where they live is surrounded by beautiful mountains that was once occupied by the Khmer Rouge. They are still demining land mines in some area. It's scary to think that they can come across one working out in the fields any day! The area has come a long way though.

After visiting the family, we headed out to Thailand to visit my moms sister and her 4 kids. Again, it was another 2 hour s or so drive to the border. Im getting kind of sick of car rides and I still have 1 week to go. Roads aren't the best in some areas so we are bobbing up and down and all the honking that goes on gives me a headache; scenery is great though.

I can write a lot about meeting the cousins and aunt for the first time but I'll save that for another time. We have some resemblances of each other so you can definitely tell we are family. We went out to the markets to get some food and just had a nice evening at the house. Tomorrow we will be heading to the beach for a day of fun:)

Siem Reap -Angkor

Today is our last day in Siem Reap! We have been doing some touristy stuff after school each day so have seen a lot of the city but there are a few things I wanted to do before I leave. Here are some of the things we did so far...

-Prasat Bakong
-Chong Kneas-Floating Village
-Phnom Krom
-Pub Street and Night Market
-Landmine Museum (CNN hero Aki's work)
-Apsara show and dinner

The last thing I wanted to see was the sunrise and sunset over Angkor, so today, we did just that. Woke up at 4:30 am to head to Angkor Wat for the sunrise. It was cloudy so we didn't get a great show, but still beautiful. We spent the afternoon at the Cambodian Cultural village, where we saw shows of how Cambodia was like back in the days and even witnessed a wedding (fake that is). Afterwards, we headed out to Phnom Bakeng for the sunset over Angkor-amazing! And last but not least, we did as the locals do and had an evening meal roadside on Road 60. As you can imagine, we were exhausted after this!

Our week stay in Siem Reap was great and I'm glad we got to do things in a somewhat leisurely pace. We had a designated tuk-tuk driver from Seven Candles take us everywhere and also waited while we visited the ruins so that was great. He was a great guy!

There are so many stories to tell of the people we met that I can't possibly write it down, but everyone was very genuine and I enjoyed their company. I forgot to mention, we played the Khmer card and got in free to all the temples and ruins as well as discounted rates around town! Score!

Au-kunn Angkor!

Lots of Love

I can't believe we're already at our last day at Knar School. Out of the 40 students we've had over the last week, I can say I know 2 kids name. That might sound weird, but a lot of the kids never told us their names and there wasn't a class roster or anything. The only reason why I know the 2 kids name is because I always heard the teacher calling their name for some reason or another. Also, not every child comes to class everyday and there were some days where we had students from other classes (the older students were interested in what we were doing and just came and sat in our class), but you don't have the heart to tell them to leave. This just shows you how different the school is here.

Despite all of that, there is lots of love at the school. From the tuk-tuk drivers, to volunteers, to teachers, to the PLF, and the students! School is a place the kids can come to learn, play, get medical attention, get fed, and washed up. It is a very important part of the village and the greater Cambodian society as a whole. And with out everyone working together it would not exist.

With that said, we decided to make paper heart necklaces today and decorate it with a little paint to show the kids how much we loved being with them. Folding the paper went well, but we assisted with the cutting as the last time was a bit stressful. The students then used a qtip to paint dots on one side of the heart and we pressed the two sides together to get our artwork. Very impressive I must say. After the paint dried or what we thought was dry, we taped a string to the back to make a necklace. They then wore it around their neck. This probably wasn't the best idea since some weren't quite dry enough and we had some colorful shirts at the end of the day:)

We decided to have a bigger snack day today since it was our last day. We usually just have cookies/crackers but today, we had soybean milk and french bread with condensed milk! It was good. The families here don't have much so anything extra is a treat:)

Afterwards we said our goodbyes, which was sad, got our hugs and high fives and the kids were out the door. It's been a true rewarding experience being with them the past week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Its one of the most humbling experience I've encountered and I hope to come back again one day. It would be nice to see some of the same kids again as well and hope they remember me. You really don't know if you've made an impact on someone's life until you hear or see them again so I'm hoping I'll have that chance.

The story really doesn't end here. There's still so much more to do and I hope I can stay a part of it even though I'm miles away.

Until next time. "Good luck and good health from Knar School."

Group Activity Day

After yesterday's field trip, we were pooped. I was trying to think of something to do with the kids that was fun but didn't require too much energy so thought that setting up group activity stations would be fun. It will allow the kids to work and play together while getting to do a variety of different things. The three activities were: coloring, puzzles and Playdoh. We divided the kids up in three groups and rotated them around as they were completing each task, with one of us there to help them. During these activities, I found out which kid liked to do what. Some enjoyed coloring, inside and outside the lines:) Most liked playing with the Playdoh, but after group #2, it was pretty much a goner as the kids mixed all the colors together and stuck them on papers and such. They were supposed to be making animals but a few of the boys started making bracelets..haha. The puzzles were a bit tricky as the first group that started working on it mixed all 3 puzzle box pieces together. This made it challenging for the rest of the groups so I spent some time trying to separate them. Overall, I think the group activities worked pretty well and also allowed interaction within the groups which was fun to watch.

After we finished the activities, we played a game of red light, green light. I got a bit of exercise in as well...

Another great day and only one more to go. Its going to be sad but I have hope for the future of these children and can't wait to see the outcome one day.

The Field Trip!

Thanks to all the donors to "The Every Child is an Artist" fundraiser for helping sponsor this field trip to Angkor and Siem Reap for twenty 5th graders at Knar School. This is definitely a story to be proud of! You definitely brought a lot of smiles to every child's face and more importantly, a memory for a lifetime! I definitely enjoyed myself and I know the kids did ten times more. Since there was no school today (rest day), six of the other volunteers joined us as well, so it was perfect!

Every year they have a list of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders who want to go on the field trip; however, not everyone can go as it's only 20 at a time. There was one other trip back in May that took care of most of the 6th graders so for our trip, we had the 5th graders, which varied in age. The youngest being 11 and the oldest 15. None of them had ever been to Angkor but they studied a little bit about it in school. We had a Khmer speaking tour guide for them who was awesome! Others that came on the trip were the teacher, Ponheary, and the assistant. Of course, my mom, and my aunt. The trip started off with breakfast at school, which consisted of French bread with condensed milk, yum. My my mom use to make this for us when we were little.

After that we hopped on the a/c bus and headed to Angkor Thom, in which we will visit The Bayon and Ta Phrom. Talk about fascinating! The Bayon is known for the egnimatic stone faces. Ta Phrom is where Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed. From there, we headed to the largest temple of all, Angkor Wat and concluded our history lesson for the day. At each of the temples, the tour guide talked (in Khmer) about the various carvings, structure, and history. Ponheary gave the volunteers a little English guide of our own. Lucky I was able to understand both:) more English than Khmer of course.

I had a hard time keeping up with them because they walked so fast! Plus,it was hot! The kids didn't speak to us much so I was trying to engage them in conversation and getting them to speak some English to me. When you ask them if they are having fun, they just stare at you. But when you say are you happy, they answer yes, very happy. Which is how "fun" is translated from Khmer to English...hehe. A few did speak a lot when I asked them in Khmer. They love listening though.

After the temples, we had lunch at Khmer Kitchen and then headed off to Lucky Mall for some modern day fun! Lucky mall is a fairly new American style shopping mall with escalators. Most had never been on one before so each volunteer took a few up at a time. I wish you could have seen the excitement and nervousness on their faces. We went to an indoor play area for a good 15 minutes and then had a browse at the book shop, where PLF, bought each of them a book. They started reading right away:) The day ended with a quick glance at the super market and some ice cream. This may all seem a bit strange for a field trip, but you have to understand most have never seen anything like this before. The endless smiles on their faces could never be forgotten.

From here we took them back to school to say our farewells and I had to hold back my tears. Some of the girls made us some gifts and wrote us thank you letters:

"I will remember this forever and I hope you come see us again. I love you."

What a wonderful way to spend a day. I can't wait to share all the pictures with y'all. For now, I'll leave you with this little collage.

"I wish you good luck," as they say here, instead of goodbye:)

Thanks again for being a part of this!

Princes and Princesses of Knar Kinder

Today, my aunt and I led the kinder class on our own. We had the idea of having the kids make paper crowns out of construction paper, and then they could all wear it outside to play duck, duck, goose. In our minds the activities seem pretty straightforward and easy but the story was a bit different.

I started off by showing the kids an example of one I made and had them follow me, but it was pretty challenging. Because the class varies in age (3-5ish) some kids knew how to cut and glue and others didn't so 4 of us had to go around and help each of the kids out. Although a bit chaotic, the crowns came out very nice and the kids loved it. They wore it around for the entire day, it was adorable! I felt a sense of accomplishment to hear the kids say "I can't do it," at the beginning to saying "I can do it!" at the end of the project. I asked some of them if I told them to show their friends how to make one, could they? And a few said yes so that brought a smile to my face.

Afterwards, we played duck, duck, goose, which is similar to a Khmer game. They understood the concept, but some of the kids were so shy, they didn't want to choose a goose. It was cute.

We ended the class with some snacks and a final activity of drawing a smiling sun:) So today, they each had 2 things to take home and show their family. Speaking to the PLF, the main goal is to try and make school fun so they keep wanting to come back and I hope I'm helping do just that. I had a great time today with them. I have to say though, 2 days with Kinder students is a lot of work; props to my Kinder teachers.

Finger Painting Fun

Today, Ponheary and I took the tuk-tuk to Knar School, which was about an hour away by tuk-tuk. Ponheary came with me today to give me the story behind the school and to help out, as it's election time in the country and school is suppose to be out until Wed or Thursday. Since we had organized this ahead of time, we were able to get 25 kids in the kindergarten class. It is definitely a big plus that I know Khmer as the kids don't know English. They don't learn it here until about 5th grade. We did a few exercises with colors. How to say them in Khmer and English and from there we did some finger painting! Some kids went right into it and others were a bit shy. I had to show them how to do it. We also made hand prints with the paint, which I think the kids enjoyed. They all had their little own way of doing it; some with dots, others by smearing, and some actually drew hearts and flowers.

Afterwards, we played a game of hot potato, monkey in the middle, and human tug a war.I'd like to think it was a successful first day and I really enjoyed myself. I even saw a few kids wearing TOMS! And it's true, most kids here were running around with no shoes on so it was nice to see the TOMS story in reality.

Check out these happy kids:)

On the Road to Siem Reap

The drive to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh took about 5 hours with stops. The roads were pretty good with a few bumps here and there. We passed by quite a few towns and had really good conversations with our driver. You can see the poverty in some towns off the main road but for the most part, it seemed like every town had a market with fruits and veggies and other things to sell. The driver said most of the poverty are in the houses behind the main road that we can't really see but know its there. We saw lots f farmers hauling thing on motos, flatness, and some using cows. The soil along the road was a dark red and you can tell that the land is really fertile. We arrived in Siem Reap around 3 o'clock in the afternoon to Seven Candles guesthouse and was greeted by Ponheary herself. She shared with us some stories of the guesthouse and organization. Meeting her in person made me feel even more glad that I came. To see how passionate she is about helping the kids even though she, herself, doesn't have all that much just makes me very proud to be a volunteer with this organization.

After settling in, we had dinner at Soup Dragon off Pub street and did a little shopping at the night markets. Knowing Khmer definitely helped with the bargaining...hehe

Here's some pics from the drive over.

Phnom Penh Sauna

So...today was my first real day in Phnom Penh and just like my mom warned me, it's hot and humid! We started the day with breakfast at a noodle shop called Thromda. Over here, they usually eat noodle soups or rice soups for breakfast and not for lunch or dinner like we would do in the states. Of course, when we were little, we did the same as the Khmers so I'm pretty use to this; others might think it's a bit heavy though. Again, this restaurant is like a normal noodle shop in Houston. I can now say I've had Phnom Penh noodles in Phnom Penh, delish. If you haven't had it, it's pretty much pho but with pork broth, ground pork, shrimp and duck. You'll have to try it one day:) I suspect I will be eating this a lot here as it's one of my favorites.

After breakfast, we hit the various markets and this is when I experienced my first blast of heat and the crazy driving. If you've ever been to any sort of bizarre/outdoor market, it's pretty much the same. T-shirts, souvenirs, food, and knick knacks for sale. They had little bar like eateries lined up along the shops with people offering their special for the day. A group of 3 can eat for $3 here! The clothes however are a different story. Again, I was shocked at the price, $50 for a shirt? No, thank you. To be fair, there were a bunch of cheap items as well but i didn't get around to buying any as the heat drained me and I didn't feel like bargaining. :) I did however buy a piece of each insect you can think of for a dollar. I said what the heck, I'll give the spider a go! It took me maybe 3 screams before actually attempting to put it in my mouth and at the end of it all, I just couldn't do it. I had a bite of the leg but it was too soft and hairy for my liking. At least I made an attempt to try it, right? The cricket, roach and beetle stayed in the bag and went in the trash....haha.

We went to another shopping mall that reminded me of a bigger Hong Kong market and just had a nosey. Knock off galore, products to whiten your skin, and cell phone cases were for sale, go figure. This market was nice though as it had air conditioner and escalators, which is fairly new to the culture.

On we go for some real heat during our picnic lunch at veang svey with my second cousins and their friends. The place was about 30 minutes from Phnom Penh, by the river. We bought food from the street vendors and brought it to a picnic stop equipped with hammocks and freshly cooked snails! I've never really eaten snails before but really took a liking to these, escargot please:) The picnic was nice and peaceful and I got to learn a little about my family here over some Angkor beer, this time without the ice.

We ended the night at another family gathering with home cooked food and called it an early night as we had to be up early for our car ride over to Siem Reap. I'm excited to see the country side and to start the volunteering part of this story.

Lee-hai!

The First Impression

Walking out of the PNH airport, I already got funny looks. "This girl looks American but can speak Khmer pretty well," how's that possible? My cousin also greeted me with a lei, which no one else got, so that brought some looks as well. Nothing bad, just curiosity.

We went straight to Khmer-Thai for dinner, which was a higher end restaurant but not luxury. I was expecting Phnom Penh to be dirt cheap but it's actually not. I mean, prices are lower than the states but still up there. For instance instead of $10 for a dish, its $5-8. I hear you can eat from street vendors for $1 so maybe I'll give that a try sometime. Most of the clientele were local Khmers so that was a good sign that the food is good, which it was! They even have these cool tables on the ground where you can sit and eat. Cambodian style, aka, Indian style.

After dinner, we decided to go to a bar/club for some drinks. Talk about crazy driving here. Motos, tuk-tuk, cars, etc are all over the place, weaving in and out of traffic. They even carry babies on motos! I guess you can say its like the Dutch with their bikes. At the bar, I had my first taste of Angkor Beer, with ice, the local way of serving it. It was good but just a bit light and watered down for my taste. Again, this place is where all the young locals hang out and party on the weekends. I think We even saw sine superstars! Haha. After a couple buckets of beers, we called it a night so we can get some rest.

Overall, the first day, or should I say night was interesting but I wasn't as shocked as I thought I would be. We will see what I think after tomorrow.

The Flight

So...the flight over started off a bit rocky. I read my boarding pass wrong and thought the boarding time was 23:23, when actually it was 22:23. That explains why I was the last person in the lounge. I heard my name being called for final boarding and took off running! Good thing it was late because no one was around to bump into. The desk attendants were not happy with me as they were already shutting down. She even threatened to not let me on the flight and that I would have to buy a new ticket! Anyhow, I manage to get on board, all the while huffing and puffing like crazy! I don't think my heart rate has been up that high in a very long time. There goes my cardio for the year. Ha. Despite the craziness, I manage to get settled in, watch a movie and get some sleep. I had a two seat row to myself so that was nice.

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City where the majority of the passengers got off to make connections elsewhere or stay in Vietnam. The rest of us had to get off the plan so they can clean it and then reboard an hour later for PNH. The flight to PNH was only 30 minutes and I arrived to a cloudy night in Cambodia. It was about 6:30 pm and it was pretty dark already. Something I'm not use to since the sun doesn't set until 11 pm these days in Scotland.

Anyhow, upon arriving in PNH, I had to fill out my visa application and arrival card. What I was suppose to do with it, no clue! So, I arrived at customs and gave my visa over. I didn't know how much and I read somewhere it was $20 so gave him that. Only to learn my mom only paid $10! And then he made me sit down and wait, maybe because I didn't give him extra money. After a few minutes I went through the customs clearance and got my stamp. Of course it was for a price. I was asked if I had any spare money to offer and just threw the guy a fiver so i can exit in peace. Shady, I know, but at least I got out without any issues.These guys are probably banking and we really shouldn't be feeding this corruption but of course, we want the easy way out. It's the Cambodian people that have to live with it.

That's my piece for now. My first impression of the city to come, it's midnight here and I am off to bed. G'night.

ABZ-CDG-SGN-PNH

Thankful for the pretty much direct flight from Paris to Phnom Penh! Also, it's a midnight flight so hope I can get some good shut eye.

Say hello to my travel buddies, Austin & Jacob:)

See y'all in Phnom Penh!

The Background

It was always a struggle trying to tell people about my background, so I'll go ahead and put it out on the table now.

The story is, both of my parents were born and raised in Cambodia. My dad from a Chinese ancestral background and my mom from a Cambodian ancestral background, which is why I tell people, I'm half Cambodian and half Chinese. Of course my upbringing was predominantly Cambodian since that is where my parents lived, but we do keep up with some Chinese traditions. You're probably wondering,  Mandarin or Cantonese? Well, it's Teochew to be exact. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teochew_people

For those of you that don't know, Cambodia is in Southeast Asia and borders Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Most people know where Thailand and Vietnam are located but no one really knew that Cambodia was it's next door neighbor. That's because you don't meet very many Cambodians, so we are sometimes forgotten. I mean, how many Cambodians do you know? Also, since my last name was Lao, most people thought that I was from Laos. And now that I'm married and have taken on the last name Pena, people are really confused.

Story is, I'm a 28 year old Cambodian/Chinese girl who is finally getting to visit the country her parents left behind a little over 30 years ago. I've decided to call this adventure "The Angkor Story," after one of the architectural wonders of the world. When most people think about visiting Cambodia, they will most likely go to Siem Reap to see the ruins of Angkor, which use to serve as the seat of the Khmer Empire years ago.

Angkor Wat

The next 3 weeks will be an eye opening adventure for me and I would like to think of it as one of my life's wonders. This will be my first trip to Asia and more importantly, my first volunteering trip http://www.razoo.com/story/Every-Child-Is-An-Artist. I really have no clue what to expect, but I'm definitely going to make the most of it, so hope you're ready to hear all about it!

T-27 hours until take off!

Nary