I seem to have stumbled
into an episode of Real World Cambodia, that great (and so far
non-existent) reality TV show based in Sihanoukville, on the southern
coast. I'm not a fan of 'reality tv' which strikes me as an oxymoron,
but that aside, this assortment of characters and cultures would make
for some serious entertainment. Perhaps as serious as the murder that
took place a few days ago out at Otres Beach, just down the road. I
don't have the details yet, but there was some big opening of a new
venue that was going to take place and one of the people involved was
some kind of shady character from New Jersey. ('Santino', believe it or
not). The night before the big opening there was a wedding at the new
venue and one of the participants didn't survive
it. So much for the big opening on the following night... uh 'the
grand opening is delayed' ...Police are involved...
Ah
yes the police... I hear they make about $50/month here so clearly they
need to um, supplement their modest income. They run the drug trade
here. That bag of weed that the tuktuk driver offers you.... it's
under the aegis of the cops. Ditto for the 'ice' that is the drug of
choice for the young people, it's some kind of smoke-able meth, yeah the
cops are running that as well. There is a cadre of young Khmer men
who hang out behind a certain bar and it's their franchise. You see
their lower level sellers, white kids, going back there, 'hey have you
seen X? Tell him I
need to see him as soon as he gets here. Lots of burned out young
Aussies and others are staying up late, dancing in the clubs, partying
with their friends.
And
the Russians.... My buddy Simon (Brit) is running the cafe with his
Russian pal Denis, so Denis' friends use it as a hangout, drink coffee,
smoke cigarettes and enjoy the day. They are really nice, big fans of
our music.... which makes me big fans of them. Sometimes they'll
borrow Dennis' boat for a sail around the bay, and I gather it's not the
most sea-worthy craft.
Just last week, they capsized repeatedly.... his passengers caught a
ride back to shore with a fishing boat, but they couldn't safely tow
Denis' craft back, so he spent a 'Man against Wild' night alone on an
island, no water, waiting for help to arrive. The 'coast guard' and
yes, I used quotes for that term, showed up and got him back to town.
He gave them $50 for their trouble. He's quite a character.... sleeps
in a mosquito netting tent on the floor of the place he and Simon
share. It's very run down, dirty and uncared for. When I said, 'Why
don't you pay some Khmer woman a few dollars to clean your place, he
replied, 'Ve Vant to live like this' OK, whatever... And he's a great
guy...
And
the prostitutes....There are lots of them... working out of bars,
walking the strip near the beach, surveying the scene where the white
people go to dance. And there are doubtless plenty of places which I
don't know about that cater to the Khmer traffic. Lots of western men
parading around with their 'friends'. It's definitely part of the
fabric here and it adds that tawdry element to the TV show. As long as
it's not children being exploited, I don't have a strong opinion... but I
keep my distance. And how many times have I heard the same
story....'I fell asleep... too drunk... when I woke up all my money was
gone' (Yeah dude, how would she ever think of looking in your toilet kit
to find that $350? Bad luck, bro)
But
the real reason why I got the feeling this was a TV show was in the
form of Simon's new girlfriend. It's like in season one, Simon, Jelly
and me had some great musical adventures here, and for this season, the
producers felt we needed to add a new cast member. Enter Tiffany.
She's tall, about 5'8", bi-racial and beautiful. Maybe 40 years old,
I'm just guessing, has a 16 year old daughter living with her here. I
don't know her whole story but she has lived in many third world
countries, she and her ex husband were teachers in different third
world locales. Anyhow she's been here for 6 months and she hooked up
with Simon a few months ago. She asked if he wanted her to sing a
couple of songs at his gigs and his initial response was, 'No, it's my
thing'. Yeah buddy, way to go.... And of course once she got in front
of a mic, everything changed. She's fantastic, has that thing that you
can't quantify, but it just lifts the room. Great ear, great stage
presence, not a lot of experience yet, but clearly she should be the
'star of Sihanoukville'. We sat in at an open mic on my first night
here, I played bass for them and this guy Pat Savage (biker music
extraordinaire) sat in on drums. We tore the house down. She's that
good, and with a competent backing band behind her... it was pretty
magical.
She's
really nice.... but don't cross her. Yesterday, the woman who runs the
club next to Simon's cafe played the music too loud, it was hard to
carry on a conversation. Tiffany is like, 'That girl need to be hit in
the mouth, she's a birch' (I guess they had some history. She goes
over there 'asks her nicely to turn it down' and the Estonian owner
yells at her 'Fuck you, get out of my bar' Tiffany responds in kind,
'No fuck you, and turn the fucking music down' And then she goes and
starts unscrewing the speaker from the wall...'What you doing? I call
police' 'Go ahead and call the police'.... The owner eventually
turned it down... and Tiffany came back and said, 'I've been all over
the world, 'NOBODY is going to disrespect me like that'. Yeah, 'home
girl' came out... it was awesome. (and probably not the best idea...
but this Tiffany is made for TV)
So
we've got gigs starting tonight. I went up to Led Zephyr where we tore
it up the first night and had a little meeting with the boss, Andy, and
the manager, Tim and they want us to play there. It's the spot we
played a bunch last year and they like our material and our
professionalism, and now there
is this hot singer out front... KaChing! And Simon, Jelly and Tiffany
have been playing twice a week at the Kong Bar (a girlie bar right on
the main drag and super close to where we are, so I'll be part of that
as well. Hey why not... I hear Louis Armstrong started out playing in
brothels.... Simon says it's a great gig, so here we go. And there
will be more... Once we get a few gigs under our belt, it'll get better
and better...
Here
it is Feb 1, A Saturday morning during Chinese New Year, when the town
is as busy as it gets. Seems like every
Chinese person in Cambodia is here for the holiday. Room prices have
been jacked up, but my friends hooked me up with a monthly rental for a
fine room in a great location. I'm paying $220 for the month, just over
$7 a day, and yeah, that works. Add in the delicious fresh barbecued
fist that's available every night ($3 with baked potato and salad...
amazing!) And our favorite local restaurant is still here.... They have
this seafood amok (local dish) for $2.50 and it is awesome. Good
coffee, good internet, great friends and lots of gigs... Yeah, this will
work for February.
Wait,
we need some fireworks and dragons for the closing credits... Tune in
next week... and drop me a line if you feel like it... I always like
hearing from home... la la la
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