I know you, yet I don’t.

There’s a drinks stall uncle, who picked up my favourite coffee shop hot-day drink – barley. When he sees me approaching the stall, he’ll get the plastic bag at the ready, and upon my smile, will start concocting the barley drink.

He doesn’t try to make small talk; he doesn’t look at me much; he just makes his barley for me. And when it’s done, he sticks a straw into the drink, collects the money, I thank him and leave. No other words exchanged.

There’s such a distant understanding between us. It’s weird that someone who knows what my favourite drink is, doesn’t really know me at all. I was thinking if I should, on my last day of this stint, tell him that it’s my last day.

School turned Prison/Torture Quarters turned Museum

Got these two photos off some stranger’s webshots album.

This is the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, where Pol Pot tortured those who (he suspects) were against the Khmer Rouge. In the end, he managed to torture and murder about 1.5 million people under the regime.

Toul Sleng used to be a high school before Pol Pot decided that it is a cosy place for him to imprison people; and it sits beside a narrow lane in the heart of Phnom Penh City (Cambodia). HY and I went there, because it’s a signature of Cambodia and a great place to remind us of the gruesome past that partly made what Cambodia is today.

Out of the 17,000 people imprisoned there, only 7 survived. The rest either died in the compound, or in a killing field (which I was too traumatised to visit) 15km from Phnom Penh.

Didn’t help that they played a tape of Buddhist monks’ chants through the PA system. And the backyard was filled with banana trees, mango trees and frangipani trees.

This guy who took the photos is brave, Hy and I didn’t even dare to take photos; afraid that it might offend “anyone” who’s there. The photo below look harmless; tranquil even. But being physically there, right from stepping through the front gate, sent chills down both our spines. There’s such an angry presence there, though the structure and its surroundings is so open, yet, while in the compound, you feel suffocated.

This, when the compound was still a school, was a frame where they hang ropes for students to climb on (kinda like the ones schools in Singapore always have).

But this, when the compound was a prison, was used as a mean of torture, where they’ll tie prisoners in a painful position and leave them suspended in the air, until they pass out. And they’ll have a huge pot of fertilisers (i.e. ammonia), where they’ll stick the prisoner’s head in and have the ammonia wake them up.
And the process starts over.

The white rectangular boxes in the background.. they’re graves of 7 of the people authorities found in “special” torture chambers.

-Shudders- I’ve got goosebumps now.

The weekend

 Weekend was spent..

Catching my idols in action for National Day practice jumps. Nearly got kicked out of the parade area, but thankfully got saved by a guy from Red Lions from the embarassment.

After a jump

Parachutes in disarray

Woohoo! Idols in action.

Some snapping fun in lift

Picnic!

We’ve got.. fresh mesclun salad, sis’ homemade hearty roasted vegetable soup, some crackers and pate, tortellini a la pomodoro. Yum.

Cheeky niece. Why didn’t I have such a bright swimsuit when I was young.

HAHA. I just couldn’t resist putting this up. Thankfully, the brother-in-law doesn’t know of this blog.

Critters littering the beach. Meet Mr. Hermit.

HY managed to spy a baby squid!!!! Oh goodness this is an absolutely fantastic find. It couldn’t be bigger than my thumbnail.

And.. It’s the grandpa’s birthday. Happy birthday Pop!

Eat. Sleep. Dive.

That’s really all we did at Dayang.

Good break, really. Feels as though we were gone for a looong time. Diving was good, of course. Nothing extremely spectecular, but saw critters that I’ve missed seeing. Absolutely refreshing dives; it’s human against the elements - fighting the currents; feeling the need to scan 360 degrees underwater for signs of danger.

Beach is still the same, and perfect of course, though we didn’t spend much time lying around. None of those coarse man-made beaches. It’s powder soft sand everywhere.

On our way

Boy, are we hungry.

Beautiful way of starting the morning

Our semi-detached ‘villa’ that housed our beds for the 2 nights

Dayang, too, caught on the beach volleyball fever

Isaac! He was smoking a cigarette, so as not to show that on camera, he placed his right hand behind him. But look what’s on his left hand.. Doesn’t it look suspiciously like a cigarette box? haha. So much for the smoke-free image.

Blindingly orange. They’re really useful, though a tad ugly. Peter hates them.

Hy giving a pre-dive briefing, and Peter and Grace looking amused

Yup that’s right, divers below.

Gloriously sparkling blue sea and white powder soft sand

I have this tendency to like to replicate this photo wherever possible

On the way to the dive site

The love birds

Fish food. Quite a sneaky way to catch fish, no?

As Nicholas would put it - frolicking in the waters of Dayang

On our way back to reality

More photos: http://renikaeth.multiply.com

Taking a breather

Off to Pulau Dayang for some weekend diving.

Taking a breather. Yeah, pun intended. Weee!