Phnom Penh

This was a strange work trip. Aside from me (and my colleague) being bored and not wanting to come, I’ve also met with situations that I’ve not encountered before.
Hotel
I stayed at a swanky hotel-cum-casino. The first floor was the casino. I’ve never seen such a set-up before. The casino was open. Anybody could walk in and out. It was strange because to me all casinos had a controlled entrance and exit. Gamblers, prostitutes, aunties, uncles, tourists and croupiers were milling around the tables and jackpot machines uninhibited.

Presentation
I botched my presentation somewhat. Though people knew I was from Singapore, I forgot to introduce myself (mega boo-boo) and spoke like a train lol. But I guess I met my objective. To have the presentation as short and sweet as possible.

Socials
Met up with good friends, most of them Taiwanese, Chinese, Hong Kongers, Malaysian and Indian. Met up with THE Internet pioneer in Cambodia whom I knew from my past travels. It felt good to catch up with him though initially he couldn’t place me and thought I was a Cambodian. Sigh.

Tummy
I felt a little strange on the day that I flew from Singapore to Phnom Penh, which was Wednesday. And wasn't doing too good all the way till Friday. :( Had to take some diarrhoea pills here and there.

Snatching
I don’t like places which are messy. I feel unsafe. I’ve been to Phnom Penh before and I certainly did not feel that unsafe during that trip. This time it feels different. I see a messier Phnom Penh. People are still friendly and generally hospitable and helpful. But somehow I am seeing seedier streets and areas.

Five of us ladies were in a tuk-tuk to a social dinner function. While we were still in the tuk-tuk, my colleague’s mobile phone was snatched from her hands just 10m from the restaurant we were going to. 2 men on a motorbike zoomed past our tuk-tuk and reached in. One pulled her hand and tried to get her bag but it was hooked around her arm. The other guy managed to get her mobile instead. She screamed.

It happened right in front of my eyes and was over in just 2-3 seconds. We were all shocked. She was a little shaken as well. It was a Galaxy Note. Ouch. She bought it for $800-odd only 6 months ago. But whatever it is, we were thankful that it was only a snatch theft and that the guy who did it wasn’t carrying any knife.

Eye-opener
In my entire life, I’ve only ever been into a police station once to make a report. And that was for the loss of my identity card. Because of the snatch-theft incident, I accompanied my colleague to make a police report. I not only visited two police stations within Phnom Penh, I also had the opportunity to pop by the Foreign Relations Agency, which turned out to be a nondescript small space amongst small shops selling knick-knacks.

The police stations were really just small shop spaces with some wooden tables within. Chairs were those plastic chairs you’d see in our coffee shops. There would be at least one CRT TV within the station, usually blaring some Cambodian or Korean MTV station. We’d be stared at whenever we stepped into a post. And I was very glad that we had a hotel staff accompany us the whole time. I saw a suspect as well. Not in handcuffs but in chains and lying on the ground. His hands were chained to window grilles and his feet were bound together in chains. To put it crudely, he reminded me of a trussed chicken lying on the ground.