Coronation Day

Tomorrow is a public holiday to celebrate the king’s coronation day and tonight there was a fireworks display to note the occasion. This is a view from the 33rd floor of an apartment building. The fireworks are launched from a barge on the Mekong River.

Musica Felice

Today Miwako Fujiwara and her Musica Felice presented their 13th charity concert at the Sofitel hotel with a full house.
Miwako is very creative and the second half of this concert was an interaction between the Musica Felice singers and a Phnom Penh theater group. There was a story line and instead of scene changes, different rooms and settings were projected for each “act” of the story.
These events bring together a lot of friends and colleagues. L-R: Cristina, a lay missioner from Italy; Cecelia, a lay missioner from Hong Kong; Sreytin, a deaf staff from the Deaf Development Programme;, and Julie, a Maryknoll lay missioner from the United States.

Get it on the street…

Just about everything can be bought from carts on the street in Phnom Penh: clothes, shoes, rain gear, snacks, drinks–you name it. Here a fruit seller offers a variety of in-season fruits. I sometimes am concerned about the hygiene level of sellers who peel, open, slice their fruit but it sure is convenient. I can’t imagine myself cutting up a pineapple at home.

Grab Food Delivery

This is one of the most dangerous people in Phnom Penh. During the Covid epidemic when people couldn’t go out, delivery services proliferated, especially food deliveries from restaurants. Because customers want their food hot and their drinks cold, these drivers are pressured to move fast. And they do. Regardless of laws, safety, traffic, common sense. They are always going too fast and weaving in and out of traffic, going through red lights, etc. They are a real menace on the streets.

Golden 42

This is a view from my new room in Phnom Penh, up on the 12th floor. It’s quite a switch from where I lived before! The golden building is the Golden 42, one of the first tall buildings in Cambodia–and still unfinished. It was started about 12 years ago and has gone through three different owners, none of whom could come up with the money to finish it. It now stands on one of the most commercially valuable corners in Cambodia, unfinished, empty, maybe even abandoned.