It’s your birthday

Today is Vic’s birthday and he decided to celebrate it on a boat that cruised the Tonle Sap. I skipped church to be able to attend it, since it would also be my first time to do a river cruise here in Phnom Penh. Strange, some of my friends commented, for someone who’s been here in Cambodia for 4 years to have not experienced this. But it’s true; there’d been many chances to do it in the past but for some reason it didn’t happen.

Well, better late than never.

We boarded the boat at around 4.45PM, carrying bottles of soda and liquor, an assortment of snacks, and ice. Ted and Hav were already there. Food was assigned to our other friends. It was very nice to see Eng, whom I haven’t seen for a long time. Hue, whom I met in Saigon almost a year ago today, was also on hand. By quarter past 5PM, most of the guests had arrived and soon after the boat left the dock. 

Viewing Phnom Penh from the river was refreshing. It filled me with the kind of wonder that I remember feeling in 2004, a few weeks into my stay here in Cambodia. Kimrun was the first guy who took me over the river, on the Japanese bridge, to the other side of the riverfront (which was still under development at that time). I felt a certain pinch in the pit of my belly when I thought of Kimrun. But the feeling quickly passed. I told Eng and Hav (Ted’s partner) that Kimrun and I had broken up, probably for the last time.

20 minutes into the cruise, the sky visibly darkened, warning of rain. Because it was too windy, Vic ended up blowing the flames on the lighter instead of his birthday candles.

While people were partaking of the spread consisted of pasta carbonara, pancit habhab, fried chicken, spring rolls, and pork barbecue, the rain started falling. The boat’s upper deck had no roof so water seeped through the cracks of the wooden flooring (our roof). Of course, a splash of rain wouldn’t get in the way of our party. Live music was provided by Rolly, Luz’s husband, and soon people were singing. Hue, Eng, Raymond, and Vic sang their hearts out, while the tone-deaf (like me) stomped their feet and cheered.

In the last 45 minutes of our river cruise the rain finally tapered to a fine drizzle and I was again able to appreciate the view from the river. Older memories again intruded in my reverie but were soon replaced by a general feeling of pleasure. The kind one feels when one is around friends who genuinely care for each other.

As Vic and I headed to each other’s houses, aboard Serey Phal’s car, I was reminded of the many things I still need to do before my trip tomorrow: work deliverables, packing, housekeeping tasks, etc.

Happy Birthday, Vic! 

Home

Last night I took a break from work (that I needed to finish before leaving on Sunday) and went to my friend’s house for dinner and chikahan in honor of a guest from Manila. I got there before 8PM and saw the familiar faces that I’ve come to adore in this ‘house of mirth’: Joy and Lou, the hosts, Badette, Dinky, Lala, Jojo, Angge (to whom I wasn’t introduced yet–I just learned her name in the course of our conversation), among others. Being one of the last to arrive, I was introduced by Dinky to Abner Mercado.

I told him that I’m a fan, with sincerity. Abner, in my opinion, is one of the most lucid voices in the news department of ABS-CBN. I admire his way of reporting: his incisiveness which is mixed with robust doses of sensitivity and insight.

And this was the first time that we’d officially been introduced to each other, though years ago, I’d often see him grocery shopping at Eunilaine–a small supermarket just outside UP Teachers’ Village. And years before that, in my short stint as a television writer for Balitang-K, I’d also often see him in the newsroom at ABS-CBN. I didn’t point these out anymore; I didn’t want him to think that my fan-ness is bordering on being a stalker.

Over a dinner of roast chicken, baked macaroni and tuna, pinakbet, and crispy pata (of course, I only ate the first 2 dishes, for health reasons), those of us who were sitting around the oval dining table talked of our lives here in Phnom Penh, the kind of work that we do, and the condition of our adopted country in general.

Jojo had just taken Abner and his cameraman (I didn’t get his name) to see the Tuol Sleng museum and the notorious killing fields in Cheung Ek in the day and Abner told us of how depressed he felt after the visit. That he couldn’t complete his on-camera spiels because of a swelling in his emotions. I told the group that this is why in my 4 years of living here in Cambodia, not once I haven’t gone to these places. His cameraman also said that there was some stray audio caught by the microphone of the camera that interfered with their video recording. I have similar stories but they’re for another post, I think.
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