Category: Culture

Spirit House

Many Cambodian houses have a little spirit house on the wall or porch, a shrine to appease the spirits who were displaced wehn the people house was built. Most spirit houses are wooden but this one is made of plastic which I’ve never seen before. And it’s BIG! Most such houses will sit on a tabletop or are set on a small pole in the yard.

Lunar New Year #10

Here is a wagonload of Lunar New Year chrysanthemums–a bit bedraggled! They didn’t even last five days past the new year! It must be bad batch or they bloomed too early because in some years the chrysanthemums are still radiant weeks after the beginning of the year.

Lunar New year #9

Today is the second day of the three main Lunar New Year days. Yesterday was a day for visiting parents. Today it’s the sisters and brothers who get visited.

It’s OK to have new year decorations still for sale in the shops–but what happens in a couple days when definitely no one is going to be buying anything like this? Can you pack up and save for a year decorations like the lanterns?

Lunar New Year’s Eve

Today is new year’s eve for the lunar new year and it is a BIG day for the families that celebrate it. Like Americans needing to be home for Thanksgiving, everyone MUST be home for the reunion dinner on new year’s eve. 100+ million Chinese people have been traveling the last couple days to make it home today.

But for those in Phnom Penh who did not need to travel, it was a day for putting out offerings for the spirits of the ancestors.

This machine shop set out a large array of fruits and drinks and bread.
This business’ arrangement wasn’t quite as large but was done with real care.
Here two shops, side-by-side, put out offerings on chairs set on the edge of the street.
Amid all the offerings from family shops, this family just put out a small arrangement with fruit and candles.