I apologize for taking so long to post about our trip to Cambodia.  The fact of the matter is I have no idea how to write about it.  There were so many feelings and so much going on inside my head I don't even know where to start and to top it off I came home from Cambodia sick as a dog - 2 antibiotics, several other meds, lots of liquids, 3 days in bed, several naps and 9 days later I am still feeling the effects of the chaos this is 3rd world country had on my body.  However that does not mean I didn't love the time I spent in Cambodia. 

First I would like to give you guys a brief history as I know it (with lots of help from Hubby, my personal tour guide for this trip).

- Cambodian language is Khmer, people of Cambodia are called Khmer People.
- 1953 Cambodia gains freedom from France (I just had to include this little tidbit because I had NO IDEA Cambodia  ever belonged to France.  I really should have paid more attention in history class.)
- 1975 Pol Pot (evil man) took over Cambodia and started wreaking havoc on the citizens of Cambodia.  (NOTICE I SAID 1975?!?)
- Once in power Pol Pot renamed the country Kampuchea. 
- Money becomes worthless.
- Basic freedoms are taken away, religion is ban and the Khmer Rouge (communist party) coined the phrase "Year Zero" and made the statement that the country was about to be "purified".
- Foreigners were killed or expelled from the country. 
- Foreign languages, newspapers, television, religion, radios, bicycles, and telephones were all ban.
- Parental authority was revoked and children were taken away.
- All businesses were shut down, education and health care were a thing of the past.
- People that lived in the city were forcibly moved to the countryside to become agricultural workers. (Pol Pot had a 5 year plan which failed miserably.)
- Hundreds of thousands of people were tortured and executed.  Others starved or died for various reasons.
- Cambodians had to work in the fields for 18 hours a day with only 2 breaks and very little food.  If they were caught eating the crops they were shot to death or worse.
- In 1979 Pol Pot's reign of terror in Cambodia came to an end. (Although it would not be until 1998 before he was arrested and had a heart attack and died, therefore never being brought to trial.)
- It is estimated that 2-4 MILLON people were executed during this time of hell on earth.  That was over 25% of the population of Cambodia. 
- Cambodia is still recovering as this ended only 33 years ago.

Now I'll start from the moment I stepped off the airplane.

Siem Reap is one of those little airports where you exit the airport onto the tarmac.  The first thing I noticed was the steamy heat. It was 10PM at night and the temperature felt like it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit.  The very next thing I noticed at almost the same time as the heat was the smell in the air.  Oh my goodness, the sweet, sweet smell of Cambodia.  The smell of fresh air mixed with honeysuckle (even though I never saw one honeysuckle) and forest.  I wish I could turn that smell into those little wax thing I burn in my scentsy warmers. There wasn't an ounce of pollution in the air, or so it seemed. 

We had a driver pick us up from the airport to take us to our cozy little B&B which was about a 40 minute drive. He was very nice and talkative telling us about all the sights we could not see along the way.  In Cambodia there are no street lights and in rural Cambodia, not much electricity. As were we driving we happened upon something going on,some sort of traffic jam, but it was only motorbikes - we were the only car.  More motorbikes were on the way whizzing past us.  Our driver said it looked like an accident.  He turned around to go another way - we ended up on a dirt road beside the road where the accident was - when I looked over and saw a young man I would guess to be in his early twenties laying on the ground not moving.  There was a police man standing over him saying something and many people gathered around him.  No one was doing anything - they were just looking at him.  It was eerie.  I looked beyond him and saw his motorbike laid out on the ground - it looked to me like he had a blowout.  The young man's face is engrained in my mind.  I think of him often.  I'm afraid he didn't make it, but I often find myself hoping that he was just knocked unconscious. 

Upon arriving at our B&B I already had so many mixed emotions. I was happy to see how nice and cozy our room was and that the air conditioner worked well.  But after seeing just the tiny bit of Cambodia that I saw on the ride from the airport I was feeling a little guilty for such nice accommodations at this sweet little B&B, but then again I was happy to see so many things I have become accustom to (like running water and electricity).   

Signing off till tomorrow when I post more of our B&B, and the Floating Village.
- Trish

I know you were expecting an update on our latest adventure, but it is taking me a little bit longer than I expected to weed through the over 2,000 pictures we took.  So for now I am leaving you with this little doozy Hubby and I found in Itaewon a couple of weeks back.

                                                                 Seriously, what could be in this pie?

Hubby and I are off on a much needed vacation!  Check back next week to see where we went!  :)

              After taking the kids to the Trick Eye Museum, we ventured out to Pet Alley in Dongdaemun.
Pet Alley: where you can find anything you ever wanted for a pet and several things you never wanted for a pet. 
                                                                PETA would have a field day here.

Well, they are kind of like hamsters.

Hens, roosters and chicks, oh my!

Birds anyone?  There are THOUSANDS of them here!

If you are looking for fish, this is the place to go.  You can get fresh water or salt water fish.

I love this guy....I wish he hadn't been so big.  I love that it looks like he has Chinese writing on him.

BEAUTIFUL.

I totally thought these frogs were plastic.  They are not - they are REAL!!!

I love these little smilie face crabs! :)

Hermit crabs anyone?

Really?  Water bugs for sale?  Who would have thought?

We had told our kids we would buy them a milk snake in Korea.....we didn't realize they were going to be almost 200,000 won!  Aggg....something we had to go back on.  I just can't see spending that much money on something we will be giving away in 2 years.  I hate going back on my word.....

After keeping the kids out all day we thought we should feed them, and what better food to eat than street food?!

We have wanted to try these French fry covered corn dogs for a long time, and tonight was the night!  Now I know his face doesn't look like he is all that excited, but let me tell you we all LOVED the French fry corn dog!  We liked it better than the other corn dog, I'm not sure what the other one is....maybe panko covered?  Anyway, the French fry dog was the best!   (The other one was good too, and it will do when the French fry one isn't around.)

Then we tried a little processed meat on a stick.  We really don't know what it was, but it was good and Boy 2 liked it more than he liked the French fry corn dog.

Hubby had some sort of fried kimchi...again, another winner! 

To get to pet alley  - take exit 6 Dongmyo subway stop....walk straight, cross a couple of alleys, continue to the big intersection.  Turn right JUST BEFORE you cross the Cheonggyecheon stream.  You will be walking with pet alley on your right and the Cheonggyecheon stream on the left.

Night shopping in Korea. I'm pretty sure I could get a good deal on these.

Things that make you go hummm.....

This is not right on so many levels.  These are napkins.  Food stalls all over Korea use toilet paper as napkins.  Hello Jiny, kitty...close enough.

Hubby read about the Trick Eye Museum in one of the Expat magazines we get and knew it was a must for this camera lovin' family.  The Trick Eye Museum is in the Hongdae area.  To get there by subway take line 2 to the Hongik University Station go out Exit 9 walk straight for a little while  - you will pass Taco Bell on your right and then you will see a Starbucks Coffee shop on the left - turn right at this street - Trick Eye Museum is on the right maybe 250 meters down.  (not very far at all!)  It is in the basement of the Homi Atelier (a famous art supply store for professional artists).

The Trick Eye Museum has some famous works of art and some just fun works of art that have been edited to create the illusion that the objects in the images are 3-D and it allows you to join in and become part of the pictures!  

Our day started off rough....Boy 1 didn't want to hang out with his family, Boy's 2 & 3 were fighting over who was going to be in the picture, I thought I was going to pull my hair out and have a meltdown before it even started, but after a little while everyone forgot they were mad, bothered, annoyed, and upset  and we had a pretty good day playing & goofing around here at the Trick Eye Museum!  :)

Grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and sit back and enjoy our pictures!  You are sure to have a laugh or two! 

Every few months the museum  changes the art work to keep you coming back for more!  If you decide to visit the Trick Eye Museum make sure to take your camera and check to see that your batteries are charged and you have plenty of room on your picture card!  I only showed you our favorite photos!  I took well over 100 photos here!

Ticket prices are 13,000 won for adults, 11,000 for youth and 3 and under are free.
They are open 7 days a week from 10AM-10PM.

What are you waiting for?  Grab your camera and GO!  :)
 

I'm a blessed Mom.  I feel honored (95%of the time - the other 5% of the time I feel totally crazy) to be able to stay home with our kids and I am thrilled when I get to go on field trips!  This field trip TOPPED all other field trips as it was SUPER COOL because we took the SUBWAY as a class to Seoul Grand Park.  THE SUBWAY!!  How fun is that?  Not to mention that we took the subway in SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA.  (I hope our kids realize how blessed they are too!) I didn't take the subway until I was 20 years old!  Have I mentioned how much I love living here and how much I love the experiences and life lessons our children are getting? 

We had the most volunteers I have ever seen volunteer for a field trip: 17 Adults to 25 kids.  That's right, not even 2 kids per adult and the teacher had a super easy day!  :)

Seoul Grand Park is a zoo and so much more!  There are botanical gardens, a sky lift, an amusement park, camping and more.   Today we stuck to the zoo. 

I don't even know what this is....

I have a thing for flamingos.

Isn't this a sweet baby?

This girl makes me laugh.

OK...I'm really proud of this photo....I took it TRHOUGH a fence and I did not use photo shop or edit this picture in any way!!  I'm lovin' figuring out my camera. 

                                                         Did you notice she has a baby in her pouch?

I can't wait to live in Costa Rica and have these bad boys in my back yard! 

He is so cute but looks like he could go totally psycho in a matter of seconds.

Hey baby, how you doin'?

All the 5th grade boys got a kick out of this sign.

There is beautiful scenery throughout the park.

This is where we had lunch.  These little huts are throughout parks all over in Korea.  People sit to talk, have lunch and often times nap on these.

It was a perfect day to be in 5th grade again.  :)

Last week Hubby and I celebrated 18 years of marriage!  EIGHTEEN YEARS.  Can you believe that?  I don't feel old enough to have been married for 18 years!  We have PCSed 11 times, lived in 14 home, 6 states, 5 countries, but only 2 of them together, 4 deployments and 4 kids. (AND Hubby was home for EVERY BIRTH - most military familes can't say that!) we have had good times, bad times and all sorts of times in between.  We are blessed beyond measure.

                 On our anniversary Hubby surprised me with a little anniversary breakfast cake - he is the BEST!

We are celebrating our anniversary in style this year with a trip to Cambodia in a couple of weeks, but we couldn't overlook the day all together, so we headed out to Myeongdong just to get out when we happened upon this:

A CAT CAFE!  No, you don't eat cat - you go there to love on cats. Really!  I'm not kidding!  A cafe full of cats!!  There are cats everywhere - on tables, on chairs, on counters, up high, down low - everywhere you turn there are CATS!!

In Korea most people don't have pets for one reason or another, so going to a cat cafe (they also have dog cafes here!) is a great option for those cat lovers.

When venturing out to a cat cafe there are rules you must abide by:

Upon entering you must take your shoes off and replace them with rubber slippers provided by the cafe and you must disinfect your hands with sanitizer so you don't bring nasty germs in.  
     
Do not pick up the cats, they can sit in your lap~ but they have to climb into your lap  on their own

Do not wake sleeping cats

 No flash photography

 Do not disturb the kitties if they are eating
     
If the cat has a colored collar on he is young or is not feeling well

Hubby feeding a kitty

There are fuzzy cats, fluffy cats, short hair cats, long hair cats, and NAKED CATS!

You can buy 'special' food to feed the cats.....

This cat thinks he would like a little drink ~

Checking Facebook while hanging out with cats.

The young lady in the background is taking a nap while her friend is just hanging out with his favorite kitty.

The entry fee to the Cat Cafe is 8,000 won, but that includes a free drink. I wish I could tell you how to get here, but I cannot - but I did take this picture with the phone number on it!  Maybe it will help!  

We finished our afternoon stroll in Myeongdong with a little street food.....

Fried potatoes on a stick. 

Birthdays are always a good reason for a girl's night out!  The eight of us headed out to Wang Thai in Itaewon last Saturday night for a little birthday celebratory birthday fun!   This was the first time I had ever been to Wang Thai.  The service was good and the company was great!  We had our own private room and many people LOVE this restaurant.

Me, not so much.  This was my favorite part of my meal (other than the company of course!).  Singha baby.  Singha.

I ordered the spicy beef salad (one of my favorite Thai dishes) and even though it looks good it was lacking one major component - SPICE.  I also tried several other dishes there....all very bland for Thai food.  My recomendation is if you are looking for authentic Thai food, to skip Wang Thai and head on over to My Thai.

After dinner (I think I was the only one that didn't like Wang Thai) we headed over to the Bulldog...a bar in Itaewon that played 70's, 80's & 90's music!  How fun is that?!?!   The music is fun, the drinks are BAD!!!  Stick to beer if you go to the Bulldog! 

After the Bulldog we lost a few of our party goers.  The remaining four of us headed over to International Alley and found ourselves in the New Gekos Supper Club.  This is my kind of place.  (Yes, I admit it, I am a food and drink snob.)  This iPad was our menu.  How FREAKING COOL is that?!?! 

And check out how pretty our drinks are!  AND they tasted BETTER than they look!  NO JOKE!  I love this place! 

As if the amazing drinks weren't enough, our waiter heard me say I was hungry so he brought this AMAZING salad to me - ON THE HOUSE!!  Oh, oh - and check out that water bottle...yes, that is how they serve water here - 'no extra chargie'.

Happiness is finding a new group of friends each time you move.  :)

Last week I had the honor of being invited to the 62nd Anniversary of Seoul Recovery and Fashion Show at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul.  I was able to sit pretty close to the front and was given a headset so I could listen to the English translation.

                                                   Opening ceremonies....Korean drum performances.

  School girls honoring the Korean War Veterans by giving them boutonnieres to wear on their jackets. 

When the Korean War Vets were coming out, we (the American's & other countries) all stood and applauded as they were passing by.  There were hundreds of vets so this took about 5 minutes.  After a while, the ushers and the announcer ask us all to sit down.  This was very hard for us to do, as we wanted to honor them by standing.  I'm wondering what the custom is here and how it differs in this country where the elderly are revered.

After many speeches there was a fashion show that  "showed the  changes in Korean Military Uniforms, as well as the  gorgeous Court Costumes  from the Three Kingdoms Period to the present."

This Vet cracked me up!  He walked around like he owned the place.  Walking up to the stage, pushing his way in front of the professional photographers and on the stage to take pictures!  He was awesome!  He also spent a bit of time taking pictures of the "American" section.  It was great fun - I totally posed for him.  :)

Towards the end of the show it started to drizzle.  As soon as it did the ushers appeared with a box of rain jackets and passed them out to everyone in the audience!  How awesome is that?  Especially since none of us brought our umbrellas!

Closing ceremonies: ROK Marine Drill Team

The designer