I’ve always been a morning person. To the extreme. People who know me have said they find this annoying; I can emerge at 6AM completely chipper and energetic, ready to take on the coming day.
Yesterday was no exception. I jumped out of bed at 5:45AM. And never mind that I went to bed at 1AM the night/morning before. But this day, instead of going to work, I had a special reason to be excited…
… I was going scuba diving for the first time!!!
Now I know it likely wasn’t my brightest idea to go scuba diving alone where my nearest emergency contact is 2,000 miles away in China (my dad). God forbid something were to happen to me in open water – no one would ever find out. Also, my friend told me to be careful scuba diving right before/after getting off an airplane (something to do with the pressure gradient). But…… let’s not think about any of this. Hey, like I said before: “A head full of fears leaves no space for dreams.” And scuba diving is one of my dreams. Plus, why would I come to a beach town in Cambodia without making a splash, right?? (Pun absolutely intended.)
We went on two dives. Our diving sites were off the coast of Koh Rong, a Cambodian resort island. The boat ride out from Sihanoukville to the first site was about 2.5 hours.
… i.e. Lots of quality time with the selfie stick:
On the same excursion were 3 other groups: two girls from Beijing, a family of five from Australia, and one guy from Switzerland. Okay, this is pretty crazy, but turns out the two kids (Indigo & River, beautiful names, btw) in the Australian family attended the Siem Reap International School for two months… And get this: the Goyavier Boutique Hotel that I stayed at in Siem Reap is literally ADJACENT to the school. The International School was the only point of reference I could tell tuk-tuk drivers in hopes that they would potentially know where my hotel was. Usually they still didn’t -_-, but that was my only glimmer of hope. So what a coincidink that we were all in Sihanoukville together, too!! 🙂
The open water/scenery/clouds were breathtaking:
Our gear (Holy crap, wet suits are impossible to put on in humid weather. I felt like Harry Houdini trying to get out of a straightjacket, except this was trying to put clothes ON. Worst freaking magic trick ever.)
Time to jump!
*dull, mundane voice* Hi, my name is Squidward.
And I found the rest of the Spongebob gang!!
PATRICK, IS THAT YOU? WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS?!
Look, it’s Gary! “Maow.“
Gary’s friends.
Okay, I also found Nemo’s evil twin (he was this dark shade of purple, hence stereotyping “evil”). BUT HE ALSO ENDED UP ACTUALLY BEING EVIL. This guy was ruthless. As I was trying to take photos of him, I think he got angry at my camera’s flash and literally KAMIKAZE’d right into my camera lens like 5 times. He rammed my lens so incredibly hard, as if saying “DIE! DIE! DIE!” WTF DUDE, CHILL OUT. I tried capturing said aggression but only got this sad-excuse-of-a-photo below (I quickly found out I am the worst underwater photographer in the history of the universe. Gonna stick to my day job.)
Look, a sand dollar, I’m rich. -_-
Celebratory Coke after my first dive (… and I NEVER drink Coke. WHO AM I?) This was my first time scuba diving ever, so using the gear was completely new to me. Also, I had major issues trying to equalize. Dat underwater pressure doe. Our first session was about an hour long. And I was POOPED afterwards.
Nothing could prepare me for the wonders of our next diving site. After I jumped in and was treading water, I stuck my face down into the water just to take a gander at the landscape. HOLY CRAP, I will never forget my utter awe at that very moment. What a crazy sight, and these photos definitely don’t do it justice :(. FISH AND CORAL EVERYWHERE.
OH HERRO!!!
Our instructor, Liuxi, and one of the girls from Beijing:
Underwater selfies!
A school of fish!
Surfaced after our 50-minute dive. Don’t worry, I’m not prematurely aging. Those are imprints from my goggles, not wrinkles (or I hope not…)
As we were treading, waiting for the boat to pick us up, I felt these really sharp stings all over my body. A GAJILLION TINY JELLYFISH (the size of a fist) KEPT STINGING ME. You buggers!! Don’t worry, the stings only lasted for a few minutes. But still. Uncalled for.
Celebratory Fanta after my second dive – YEEEEE!!!
After this, we headed back. A 3-hour return boat ride. Everyone for the most part passed out the entire way. Including me. This was the first time in the last seven days where I wasn’t sweating like crazy. That breeze, that ocean scent is so good for one’s heart and soul.
It’s funny – on this entire trip to Cambodia, I haven’t listened to ANY music whatsoever. Not while waiting at the airports, not on the planes, not even on this long boat ride. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like traveling alone is enough of a sensory load for me. I know I need to constantly be on my toes in case anything happens around me, for one. But also, I realized it’s therapeutic. I mean, especially on the boat. The sounds of the waves crashing against the boat was enough music and melody for me. It was downright liberating.
FYI – my Myers-Briggs personality type is ISFJ. “I”, meaning Introvert. I know a lot of people are surprised to find this out about me, but I am definitely one who likes to keep to myself. This trip, however, has forced me to interact with people. After all, one can only be comfortably alone for so long, right? I’ve learned to strike up conversations with every foreigner I encounter. Inquire where they’re from, why they’ve come to Cambodia. The hope is that I can learn their stories, so that I can write mine. 🙂
Anyways, my ears got crazy waterlogged. After we docked, it took me a solid thirty minutes of incessant cotton-swabbing to get my ears back to semi-normalcy (I still don’t think it’s 100% yet)…
So what’s my final verdict on Sihanoukville? It’s gorgeous. The beaches, the scenery, the pace. You can absolutely sense how laid back and relaxed this town is (as evidenced by the lounge chairs sprinkled all along the beach).
This girl got so comfortable she became one with the beach:
Also, there are so many puppies running around! I’m talking literal BABY dogs. THE CUTEST! This one is playing peek-a-boo with me, eeeeeekk!!!! ❤
Okay, admittedly, I feel like this town is a little too touristy for my taste, as the entire length of the beach was lined with bars/restaurants for foreign party-goers.
I’m actually really proud that I didn’t take a SINGLE tuk-tuk while in Sihanoukville; and instead, walked everywhere. Okay, granted there are very few tuk-tuks in the middle of the ocean (where I spent an entire day)… but meh, technicalities…
I told you guys about my fear of getting sick on this trip, which led me to starve myself at the very beginning. But then I promptly discovered how amazing the food here was, and I think I got a little too comfortable eating whatever my heart desired. Yes (Warning: TMI ahead), sadly, my healthy winning streak has come to an end. After scuba diving I was really craving Japanese food for some reason, so I ventured out to find a restaurant that had udon. I got my tempura udon soup and also ordered a plate of chicken kara-age. The chicken was actually really delicious; however, halfway through my very last piece, something donned on me: THIS PIECE DOESN’T TASTE RIGHT. THE CHICKEN IS SPOILED. I immediately spit it out, but realized I had already swallowed some of it. By the time I left the restaurant, I could already feel a storm brewin’ in my tummy :(.
So yes, very much like the career of Kobe Bryant, the glory days of my digestive system has passed (too soon, Lakers fans?). I’m sure you were all waiting for this moment. That’s what the pills I brought are for, though, right? Honestly, it’s not that bad. I’m not dying or anything. Far from it. And definitely still eating :).
Today, I bused from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. It was a 4-hour bus ride, BUT IT FELT LIKE SO MUCH LONGER (I think since I literally couldn’t get up to stretch during the entire duration. My butt felt like jello.) Also, I sat next to a lady from Ireland. During the bus ride, I dozed off a couple of times and my head landed straight onto her shoulder. Oopsiedaisies.
So far in Phnom Penh, I’ve just strolled around in the evening, looking/marveling at things I know nothing about. For example, no idea what the below huge shiny memorial thingamabob is… Like… who IS that? Lol, whatever *snaps picture*.
I also went to a traditional Cambodian cultural song/dance performance tonight. The story was called Mak Therng. “Officially”, it’s a story about “Love & Justice”. With song and dance all throughout.
But here, let me give you a modern synopsis: Mak Therng (man) and Pangkyia (woman) are happily married. One day an arrogant prince comes along, thinks Pangkyia is beautiful and steals her away. Mak Therng gets super pissed and approaches the king (the prince’s father) to have the prince give her back. The king asks her if she is actually married to Mak Therng. Drunk with her newly attained status/power, she says no. A court official pities Mak Therng so decides to give him a trial. At the trial, Pangkyia decides she still loves Mak Therng so she confesses to the king that she lied before. This pisses off the prince and he stabs her. END SCENE.
Haha, I swear the entire performance was more artsy and beautiful than I made it out to be…
So that’s the storyline, but I think the real theme of the show is….. “These h— ain’t loyal.” Like seriously, Pangkyia? If you just stuck with your man from the get-go, you wouldn’t have gotten killed. Ugh, WOMEN.
But yeah, this was a really beautiful show with awesome costumes and impeccable acting (the guy who played Mak Therng literally had welled-up tears for like 80% of the show).
Haaaaaaaaa, the irony. (The screen at the top is the translation of what they were saying).
Inappropriate, but the guy who played the prince (on the right) was actually pretty attractive…
After being immersed in all this Cambodian culture/sophistication and experiencing some of the traditional art this country has to offer, it just felt right to go back to my roots…….
So for dinner, I ate…..
Burger King.
THE END.
With love,
Mendi
the wanderlust is real. 