Old flame or dying embers?

5 years

Composing this drivel in a perfectly ambient hotel room in Thailand. Thailand? Aye, I'm back after exactly 5 years. Flew out on the 4th November 2019 and flew back in on the 4th November 2024. Weird or what? 3yrs Cambo + 2yrs Nam = definitely got me SEA wings noo like.

But how? Was struggling through a second dose of wet-season-manflu when a 16th-Oct-email asked if I'd like a job since someone had *PDRed. Replied with a firm NO (due to flu-induced self pity). Email persisted asking if I'd teach just the Sixth Formers online. Online eh? They must be really stuck. So we had a video chat whereby a portly Dubliner ended up selling 5 periods/week of AS Physics. Only 5? Liking the sound of that. Said I'd do it in person until April 2025 if they'd facilitate the paperwork.

*Pay Day Runner.

Shitbox. Mary. Wes Chair.

Was thinking of spending Nov/Dec in Thailand anyway, as a change, but ended up torpedoing the idea. Why bother? Kampot has it all.

Then this fell out the sky. I guess that if someone else is covering the flights and I get to earn a few bob - a working holiday of sorts - but with very little work - then aye, soonds areet - why not? And here we are. Canny.

Admin

Applied for an online NonB visa ($80) via the local Embassy. Two weeks later an email drops with a pdf attached - saving a trip to PP and a passport page - result. Also got to use that UK police check (£18) I did a few months back. So $100 vapourised on this.

Unseen Cambo

TaKhmau

Stayed in Tony's Barang-free-zone on the outskirts of the Penh before flying out. Fresh durian shakes on the banks of Sewerside (or Suicide?) is an experience one won't forget in a hurry. Giant $1 lattes on Parisian-esque sidewalks (-esque doing some heavy lifting there). A night in the $11 Monorom Guesthouse is not for the faint of heart. Loved his humble $50 abode - the small space optimized to perfection - NASA could do worse than consult this capsule layout efficiency expert. Top bloke, top town.

Airport Wank

A passapp ($6) arrived at 5am to haul me and my feebly-inadequate hand luggage 20km across a surreal early morning Penh. A $9 Burger King and some eye watering $5 coffee were endured at PNH. A short hop to DMK, a 90 day stamp in the passport, followed by another short hop to HDY where I was greeted by the aforementioned portly Dubliner - saving a $10 taxi. Gutted he wasn't holding an A4 piece of paper with me name on it - still to lose me virginity there.

Indulgence

Split the oyster

Got the old room back. $100/month. Sadly, Mae Daeng's husband had passed on - shame. Retired copper, ran me to the airport once - canny bloke. Bought another shitbox for $180 off a current teacher. Honda Click I believe - doesn't matter - runs areet but always the fear it could go Pete Tong at any moment - probably at the apogee of a day out somewhere. A new $15 throttle cable eased worries somewhat.

So, work covered the flights, airport pickup and 3 nights in a posh hotel saving around $300 - sorted.

Half a Dog Watch

So far I'm loving this unicorn part-time gig. As rare as rocking horse shit (as stated in the previous entry). Enjoying the course content but the best feature is coming and going as I please - to the dismay of the current cohort of full-time drones - unwittingly exchanging their finite time and energy for infinite political currency units. A big cheesy on me boat as I ride off into the afternoon sun - in stark contrast to the cortisol-infused tabbers barely having time to chat. That used to be me!

I was able to extort these concessions by leveraging their emergency. Guess it pays to teach the difficult shit, be flexible and not need their money. I haven't the heart to inform the current incumbents that my remuneration (per unit time) is likely superior to theirs too. Ah well.

Rubble Roads

It's weird being back. I could instantly speak the lingo and read menus despite not uttering a word of it in 5 years. Reminds me of Neo's KungFu chip a la Matrix. Does the ability ever perish? Or does it last in perpetuity?

Advanced

The next noticeable thing is development - Thailand is simply eons ahead of Cambo. I can't help but marvel at the roads. Markings, lanes, street signs, traffic lights, curbs, lamp posts, landscaped verges - everything. Why is that Farang staring at the road? the locals muse.

Spent an hour walking around a mahussive Tesco Lawtaat - marvelling at the sheer scale, the choice, the order, the cleanliness. However, despite all that, humming in the background is a longing for the undisputed simplicity of Kampot. The rubble roads, the burning piles of trash, the pool league shenanigans and the mixed bag of characters. But most of all the sabai-ness. All factors conspiring to impair escape velocity and the raw-dogging of Cambo's event horizon.

Visitor

11th Sept 2023

11th Sept 2024

Prior to all that bollicks Tony visited the Pot. He came, he saw, he got fit. These two pics are exactly a year apart (almost to the minute) but, more impressively, around 30kg apart. He had a hell of a year and I'd like to think I played a small part in inspiring his transformation. Well done marra - love to see it.

Mechanic

Stripped

$150 Cub

As previously stated I'd always fancied the idea of pimping up an old scooter. However, when metaphorical rubber met figurative road, my enthusiasm faded much like the lustful desires of a drunk finding a minger in his bed the next morning. Were lessons learnt? Aye, I'm more at home reading Murray N. Rothbard's critique of Keynesianism than I am grinding mud guards off 1975 rust buckets. Guess you never know until you try.

Spray

Tangerine

A positive is that Alan rekindled his love of tinkering - a dab hand at pretty much anything in this realm. Hopefully he'll have finished the Tangerine Tornado by the time I get back to paradise.

Destroyer of Monks

Monk Destroyer

Was riding shitbox aimlessly, enjoying the sun on my shirtless back during a rare break in the late-afternoon clouds, when I unwittingly took a turn down Paradigm-Shift-Street. A group of young women sat by the side of the road, oblivious to their surroundings, nonchalantly scrolling on phones. One caught my eye as I zipped past - fuck - she was hot. Doubled back to see what they were about.

Sue s'dei oun, dar mien awai katlang? What's happening?
Boom boom - jong ban de? You want sex?
Knyom jong de massaaaat jia moy srey oun. Only massage - with you.
Ot hai bong. Mien de boom boom. We only do sex.

I convinced SreyLea to settle for just a massage. She agreed and ended up doing a fine job - for her first try - on account of baby oil and her state of undress. The room was pregnant with energy - electrified - like before a thunder storm. I left in good spirits and couldn't stop thinking about her. So returned exactly 24hrs later, anxious about nuking almost seven years of celibacy.

She seemed genuinely pleased to see me, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was an act? Heart said no, brain said yes. There was something else too, something below the surface, an air of self-assuredness, as if she'd won something, the cat who got the cream, a seductress all too aware of her power to render the most resolute of spider-monks helpless in her sexual web.

Duality

Organic Eggs

After nature had run its course, she made me promise to return. I rode home bemused. Both invigorated and ashamed, both winner and loser. To even consider this the planets had to align - and they did. However, it was anomalous, out of character and something I wasn't looking for. It just happened. Random. She was perfect - there was chemistry and mutual *attraction. Enjoy the moment I guess - but don't attach - let things come and let them go. I've never been back.

Winner and Loser? What was won? The indulgence of a fleeting sensory desire. A temporary cocktail of pleasure hormones (oxytocin/dopamine) as the limbic system rewarded fulfilment of the biological imperative.

What was lost? Self-mastery. Inner beast transcendence. Purity. Essence. Economic energy.

*Did she feel genuine attraction? I burst out laughing typing that - the rationalisation of many a poor lad. It doesn't' matter whether she did or not - the bottom line is protection and provision - always has been. "She lurves me" is the biggest lie men tell themselves - and society tells men. Don't over think it - stay in reality - it's just business. Aaaahhhh that's better.

I'll even amend it for the Casanovas out there: "She lurves me - so long as she derives a benefit from associating with me." Applies to all cultures at all times in history. The derived benefits are polymorphic - can take many forms - not necessarily financial. Or in the words of Buffet's wingman:

Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome - Charlie Munger, Investor.

Capital Allocator

Speaking of investing it's 10 years since I wrote that blog detailing the catastrophic loss of £140k and subsequent termination of early retirement in Chiang Mai. However, like Alan Partridge, I bounced back and can now live comfortably thanks to the US election market rally. Good ole Trump.

Kampotians

Toon top

Rovi and Larry

Was stunned to see a young lad in Kep wearing a Toon top. Tall by Khmer standards.

Trapped in the rain with Larry and Rovi one day after running an errand for one of his tenants.

Wooden Spoon 

Joint bottom

We couldn't even win the wooden spoon outright having to share it with Fat Cats. We improved in the second half of the season but were no match for the top 4 giants.

Our 4th season was my worst winning only 13/24. Previously I'd managed 15/22 and 21/28. Perhaps standards have improved across the league. Or maybe we had better luck before. At least 4 of my losses were in off the black - or the black rattling in the nominated bag and hugging the cushion into the adjacent pocket. Shit ways to lose - bet hey ho.

I'll miss it.

Is it symbolic that Thailand is no longer third world enough for AWOL?