So you may have noticed Birthday in plural because it turns out Becky is also born on Valentines Day!! Craziness! But even stranger is that when I travelled to Thailand quite a few years ago (2009) to do my volunteer work I met a girl there as well with the same Birthday as me! Seems as though South East Asia and Birthdays on Valentines Day are a common occurrence. So to celebrate our combined Birthdays four of us girls took a little getaway to the beach in Sihanoukville! I was so excited I packed a week before! And I knew the bus ride was going to be quite lengthy (5 hours but in Cambodian time you need to add an hour since they are rarely on schedule) so half of my bag was filled with food to hold me over for the trip. Friday finally came round so I set off to school with my bag packed and anxiously awaited 4:30 when the other girls who all work at the kindergarten campus would tuk tuk over and pick me up on the way to the bus. My kids were incredibly cute too because they knew my Birthday was on the Saturday so some of them had little gifts for me. One boy gave me a flower and told me his mom was letting me borrow it...so cute. I had made little goodie bags for my kids with all of their art work that we had done over the weeks to prepare for Valentines Day and then I also included a chocolate heart for them to eat at the end of the day once they were out of my care (let mom and dad deal with the hyper child on sugar!) So I gave out the goodie bags and said my goodbyes at the end of the day and then was off on my adventure. The bus was pretty decent I was pleasantly surprised at its ability to work, you often hear of buses breaking down multiple times while en route. It was a double decked bus, seats on the top level and moto's and car parts on the bottom level. We were ecstatic that the bus pulled out right on time at 6:25 only to stop 700m away for a good 20-30min. An hour and a half later we had barely left town but once we did we were motoring. They had TV's which they played really weird Cambodian Soap Opera's the whole time so I decided to close my eyes and when I woke up we were practically there! We arrived around 11:30pm and had a tuk tuk driver from our beach side bungalows to come and pick us up. Christine and Sharon the two none Birthday girls had actually been to Sihanoukville before and had stayed at the same place and loved it so we had connections. Once at the Bungalows we were starved and I was not going to bed without some real food. They kindly made us cheese and tomato baguettes in the dark kitchen which I ate three of. Then it was off to bed. The water was literally right there within throwing distance of our bungalow so I was able to listen to the waves all night...that and the dogs barking, the mice scurrying, and in the morning the chickens being beheaded (I'm completely serious!) Our day was super relaxed had breakfast of champions (crepes nothing like Dad's though) and spent some time in town but not for long because we all wanted to rest on the beach. After napping waterside we walked down the beach and Sharon and Becky rented a Seadoo for all of ten minutes (Becky had never been on one!). We thought we'd be mysterious and have sushi on the beach at a new sushi bar that had just opened. Two and a half hours later, four rounds of drinks in, they finally told us they had no more sushi rice. Funny how it took them so long to let us know this significant detail. Luckily we got some free drinks for the disturbance. Although it was our Birthday night we really didn't do much, returned to our bungalows still hungry from a lack of sushi so we ordered dinner ate then sat in some hammocks and were in bed by 11:30. My kind of night! Sunday was leaving day already so we made the most of it my getting 8 dollar body massages on the beach. Amazing! Then time to catch our ride back to the city. This time we took a van because its faster however faster comes with its consequences and for me it was severe motion sickness in which I did lamas breathing the whole time in order to refrain from physically being sick. And to top it off it was only an hour or so faster. The occasional time I managed to open my eyes was jaw dropping as we weaved into oncoming traffic and maneuvered around others at an incredible pace. We passed other vans, normal family vans that literally had 30 people in them as the back hatch was propped open and men just dangled and held on because there was no more room inside the van. All in all such a good weekend and the motion sickness was worth it.
As an added surprise I was given mail today stamped with a cow, which really can only mean it is from one person!! I was so excited to get mail!!! My first in Cambodia!! Thank you Aunty Doraine I loved it so much! And the kids were so overjoyed when I played the card for them too, they thought it was hilarious! Greatest Birthday Surprise!
Pre Birthday Celebration with staff! They treated me to dinner and surprised me with the most delicious cake!!
Kids art work. You make my heart soar
All Hearts Puppy. (what its supposed to look like)
What some ended up looking like (and no this is not Billy's)
Hand Hearts for parents
Goodie bags. They are supposed to be frogs and little bears but my artistic side on the bears turned into weird teletubbies
Card from student and picked flower
Flower I'm "borrowing"
I think its a bunny?
Inside our Bungalow. Mosquito net up above
Standing in Bungalow doorway you can see the water just beyond hunts
Where we spent most of our time
Our dining area
Our Bungalow
They said the water was oddly rough for this time of year. It is normal smooth like glass
Most difficult Selfie ever! Becky in pink glasses, Sharon to her left, then me and Christine at the top. Oh and Mel of course who has been staying there for over four months just living life on the beach. He was hilarious! And yes he is biting the chair in the photo! He's from India but resembles more of a surfer hipster slash Jamaican free spirit
The workers at the bungalow knew it was our Birthday and gave us roses
Leaving already but not without a puppy....kidding we didn't actually make it far with him
You've got mail!
So Shocked to get mail!
Signature stamp! Thanks again Aunty Doraine! Miss you and Love you!! If you need a getaway I've got a spare bedroom and you know where to find me!
