No Man's An Island

About twenty-five people showed up for my 31st birthday party. They all sang "Happy Birthday" for me. There even was a cake with my name on it. I hardly knew any of these people before the party but but by the end of the night we were all friends...

A week ago I outsourced my birthday party to a friend, a Khmer girl. She made it an awesome Khmer-style party in her little restaurant. All her friends were invited. They brought along their barang boyfriends. My landlord and a few barang neighbors and friends also showed up. Loud karaoke, lots of beer and delicious food were the main attractions. Somehow I was the centre of the show and I really enjoyed it… Only in Cambodia, I guess. It's hard to be cynical when everything's awesome. This was, by far, my best birthday ever. The hangover's a bit heavy but most definitely worth it.

I'm doing fine. Everyday I try to learn or do something new. Small things, most of the time. I do some of my own laundry now. Making my own meals is the next endeavor. Without a fridge (and lots of bugs) it's hard to keep food around. But I figured I can keep some ham and cheese wrapped in plastic in my coolbox (covered under lots of ice). Eating home-made sandwiches is not necessarily cheaper then eating Khmer-food but man, those self-made sandwiches do taste delicious…

I'm slowly losing track of time. I've been here a while, that's for sure. Everything's happy-happy-lucky-lucky. Alas, still clueless about the long run. The PokerStars MicroMillions (a series of online poker tournaments) are coming up but that's just another way of saying that I have no clue how to keep my head above water long-term…

Tomorrow I'll leave Sihanoukville for a few days. A friend (yes, a Khmer girl) needs to go see a bank manager about a loan in her hometown. She believes bringing a white dude to the meeting will help her case. A few days away from my precious laptop might do me some good. So I agreed to go on this long trip to her far-away countryside village. We leave tomorrow in the morning. I hope to be back in a few days.

Some time on the road followed by more of this Sihanoukville smooth life. That's one happy-happy-lucky-lucky plan by one happy-happy-lucky-lucky man.