Back to Asia

So my European exchange is completely over
and now I'm already embarking on my new journey in Cambodia
Just a few hours before my flight,
my friend Johnny who is going to have the same internship with me in Cambodia and also found me a place to stay
told me that two of his friends actually got robbed in Cambodia
I was like "so you are telling me now"
so I hopped on the plane with much fear
and there are these Chinese guys sitting next to me
As the air hostess handed us the arrival paper and the custom declaration form
I could see the confusion on their face
They cannot read English
so they began asking me how to fill in that form
and of course and as always, I lend them my helping hand
so this guy next to me started talking to me
mostly about people, economy and business
and apparently he is a businessman
so he didn't really explain to me what he does
but I figured out that it's kind of software those kind of stuff
so he talked to me how many opportunities are out there in China
and even praised me how the-girl-next-door I am and how successful I'll likely to be
*flattered*
At first I thought he is another Ivan (I will explain later who that is)
but later I know that he is a good guy
I know that he has a child and his friend next to him keeps reminding him to buy milk formula
(which is a main product of Hong Kong in the eyes of the Chinese coz their milk formula is kinda poisonous)
After we landed,
we went together to deal with the visa on arrival
again, they did not understand the English on the form
so I explained everything to them
and suddenly,
a Cambodian who speaks Chinese pops up with a custom officer
and they are here to help the Chinese businessmen
and the guy who sat next to me kindly offers to deal with my visa together with theirs
and he revealed to me that because they are buying an island in Cambodia that's why they are super nice to them
I was like "Did I hear correctly? An island? You are buying an island?"
After a while, the officer returns with all our visas,
and we went through the channel where only crew members and officers can pass through
in other words, we surpassed the normal custom
Of course, I gave them my Hong Kong number so that they can contact me in the future if they come to Hong Kong
when I just realised that my WeChat (the text app they use in China) was registered with my Malaysian number
Anyways, they can still call me directly if they like
that shouldn't be a problem
So I was alone again after getting out of the airport
I hopped on a taxi
Exactly like what's written on the Cambodian Tip Website
they give u a small receipt stating the price of 12 USD
then u hopped on the cab telling the the driver where to go
Once I looked at the time again, it's already 2 hours after landing
and apparently my parents and Johnny had already sent me tonnes of messages asking my whereabouts
so I called Johnny immediately to tell him I'm already on the cab
then I texted my parents (separately as usual) that I arrived in Phnom Penh
then the cab dropped me off at the place where we are supposed to meet
so I saw Johnny for the first time
not technically the first but like we never really talked to each other
so it was still kind of the first time
he was wearing really nicely for Cambodia I'd say
carrying an iPad like a professional businessman
it was like 5-min walk away from the place and he is carrying his iPad
okay although I don't look professional at all
almost like a beach bar girl coming off work (which I considered quite local)
I was able to collect myself and keeps laughing things through
I told him that my luggage today is an achievement
coz I learnt to pack lightly after all those European trips and this is like only 24 kg for 2 months
(compared to 30 kg I brought to Malaysia last year)
but he was so gentlemen that he insisted to help me carry up the stairs
but like after two stairs I could see him breathing quite fast
so I offer to help at the last stair up to my room
and of course he said no he could do it
but I insist too
sorry for being kinda feminist, but I really dun think we differ a lot in the ability a taking a suitcase up the stairs
so I handed him iPad and started taking up my suitcase
I used all my force at one goal to contract my biceps
abut the suitcase was barely leaving the ground
no I can do this
I try again for the second time
the suitcase leaves the ground for more then 2 cm
and Johnny starting laughing at the back
like pretty hard
so I just gave up and took back the iPad

So yeh when the suitcase arrives at my room
the room was amazingly big
well rooms everywhere in the world is big compared to Hong Kong's
but still it has two double beds and still enough space for me to do Yoga or whatever
The only thing I concerned was of course
the air-con
and they have it!
although they charge more for air-con
and to my surprise Johnny is not using the air-con at all
he has been using fan all along to save money
that is pretty impressive
but I'm not doing this
like NO WAY
I escape from Vienna because the room has no aircon
I'm not going to sleep in a room at 40 degrees with no freakin aircon
before I came here
Johnny already told me that there's no hot water for shower here
I was so worried because I knew I can't take cold shower
at least I could not
but I don't have a choice now
coz I'd rather stay with someone I know with no hot water shower than staying alone in a nice apartment with hot water bath
so I turned the cold shower on and splashed the water onto my body
freezing cold
fucking freezing cold
but after a minute it got better
I can actually stand it
coz the weather here is kind of too hot

and I met all these amazing Cambodian staying at the same building
In fact, they separate boy's building and girl's building although the two buildings are actually connected
but I was somehow placed in the boy's dorm building opposite to Johnny's room
Probably because we are staying in a legit room instead of sharing the whole floor like a hostel
they think I'm okay staying in a boy's dorm
well actually I'm okay with that
since I'm not sharing the bathroom with all the guys but just Johnny one guy
so everything was pretty good

the place was founded in purpose to hold students who go to school in Cambodia but stay far away from the city without enough money to pay for an apartment in the city
but these people are all very nice
they shared their food with me
welcomed me and introduced themselves to me one by one
I feel really welcomed here and I actually quite like this place

the only thing is that there are super many mosquitoes in my room
like many many
so I spent an hour killing all the mosquitoes in my room
well I think I have killed 60% of them now
not so sure what will I look like when I wake up tomorrow

and my mum is seriously over-reacting
she's like don't be late on the first day of work tmr
when apparently Johnny is never on time
and she even asked Johnny to wait for me to go to work tmr
I bet it's more like I wait for him
as he told me that he never wokes up at the time his alarm rings
and mum even asks me to pay for Johnny's tuktuk too and go to work just to be on time
I was like
"mum, actually there's no one being on time at the office..."
and then she saw the video of the room I took her
and she's like
don't sleep under the aircon, it's bad for your head
okay, in fact the aircon is a bit wind up
I tuned it down to 17 now and Johnny says he doesn't feel a thing
so i dun think my head is likely to be blown away by the super strong air-con

okay now I'll fight the remaining 60% of mosquitoes
gna watch France Vs Iceland tonight if the mosquitoes keeps me awake
miss watching matches with my dear friends in Vienna :(