Rumblings of a marketing man on tour…

Please move to Crouch End...

OK.

So if I am honest (I will try my bestest), there are several reasons for this. My being a lazy toad is but one of them!

But needing a place to recharge after several hours worth of hard templing is the main one. I am starting to find muscles in my legs I thought had abandoned me long ago, darn those big temple steps make you work!

So, my love of the blue pumpkin is easily summarised in a little list below. I love lists I do…

1. The ambiance, this place is so relaxing.
2. The food. It’s delicious, everything from pastries, to sandwiches, to full meals. Not forgetting the coffees and the fresh fruit juices. And cakes. And donuts. And home made ice-cream. My list could go on…
3. The very attentive staff (and not all of them are male / hot!)
4. Free wifi. That’s reliable. And works all the time! Something of a rarity I’m led to believe…
5. It’s handy location.

I’m not sure why, but the waiters seem to be much more attentive and hardworking than the waitresses. All the guys here work at twice the pace the women do. The ladies just seem to saunter around, not a care in the world whilst the men work twice as hard.

Still, I’m being kept fed, watered and am happy after my 2 days temple bashing. Tired, body aching and not looking forward to a 5 hour bus journey to Phnom Penh tomorrow. That massage I’m off for shortly should help ease the pain….

Iain really loves Blue Pumpkin. PLEASE open one in Crouch End for when I get home. You are miles better than any of my local eateries. Even S’able d’or. And that’s saying something…

Cost nothing.

There’s a pig ignorant old man at the table next to me in the blue pumpkin’s satellite café overlooking the magnificent moat at Angkor Wat.

I’m hoping he’s mentally unhinged (which would excuse the outbursts), I fear he’s just an ignorant relic from a bygone age.

He’s shared such gems as, ‘Cambodians are stupid’, ‘look at him, stupid’ (whilst pointing at my waiter that I’ve heard hold a conversation in at least four languages). ‘I ordered pasta, not soup, I can make better’, and a few other unintelligible, spasticated, completely uncalled for and unacceptable comments.

The waiting staff are taking it I their stride. I just want to punch the ignorant pig in the face. I think it’s the heat. Am usually so placid.

And yes, I said placid. Not flaccid…

Iain is pit-stopping. And not sure quite how he’ll manage dusk, dawn, and dusk…

Please consider the environment. Think before you print !

So, I make one out of my three cultured stops today. Sorry to report, the museum and art galleries fell to my pumpkin love…

So, I make the movie mall in the middle of the night market. An hour of depression awaits on Cambodia’s recent past. Something’s going to have to prep me for the killing fields, can’t go through what happened to me in the concentration camp…

So, the night market’ll be an experience when I leave. Quiet now, most of the stalls are just opening. Throw in some tourists, locals etc and I’m sure it’ll be a veritable hotbed Siem style!

So, the cinema. They tried to pawn me of with local currency and a ripped dollar as change (nobody takes ripped dollars here). So, I decide to go to the bar to get my own change, minus a beer.

One beer? One dollar. I get why people love it here…

Throw in a very charming bartender (farm boy made good, going to uni. Think Khymer Clarke Kent and we’re on the same page), but the little fucker makes me have two local shots with him too. Lovely as they were, come what may, I MUST make my 8am templeage tomorrow.

Cinema lady is currently beating the shit out of something on the roof. Am assuming it’s the projector.

Roll film….

Iain could be in for a long night. Just a feeling in my bowels.

Is having to wait a day.

Don’t know whether it was one beer too many last night (I only had six), the early start, or just general lethargy, but I could not haul my carcass out of bed.

So, I’m doing templeage tomorrow and Wednesday. And my bus (urgh), is booked to take me to Phnom Penh (das capital), Thursday morning…

I think a wander round the old market, the riverside and a rather long spell in the Blue Pumpkin (food is AMAZING!), where I’m currently breakfasting beckons today….

Iain is ready for brunch…

Hear me roar...

Is it just me, or does something about that statement jar.

I’d never say, I like black / brown / white skin. More than a little icky…

Blue pumpkin (KC be pleased to know), still got it. Two very cute waiters, lovely chat with them at the end. Pretty sure one of them had crabs (or he was just very itchy downstairs for some reason), either way, I have no immediate plans to find out more.

The old town (particularly the imaginatively named Pub Street), is a bit of a tourist trap, but not an overly offensive one. I found myself latched onto by a 22 year old student called Divit. Very nice, but a little pushy.

Whilst I’m sure the offer of a lift home was well placed, the tuktuk man seemed a slightly safer option. Let’s put it this way, if I had a pet bunny, not sure how long it’d still be breathing.

Still, to bed. Muchos templeage to follow…..

Iain is ready to get temple-tastic.

Well, Asia wouldn’t be Asia without a deathtrap tuktuk ride now, would it?

It lashed down with rain for 30mins about 5pm. Properly torrential. Which was nice in the way really hard rain can be. A lot of the side / smaller roads aren’t too road like, so it was a rather bumpy ride.

Factor in a bike that’s probably not seen a service since 1972, and, well, you get the idea. That and actually picking a side of the road to travel on. It’s broadly the right, but this seems entirely at the drivers discretion…

Several wheel spins, one near tip (and a quick word to Ganesha), we make it to Blue Pumpkin (highly recommended by KC). Its clearly something of a Cambodian institution.

Downstairs, we have tables spilling onto the busy street. Inside downstairs, very average café like.

Upstairs however, is mostly white. Extended sofa type beds mean you can kick your shoes off and stretch out. Perfection…

The comfy Blue Pumpkin

Special little tables allow your food to perch around your bad self, assuming you get round to feeding yourself. If only I could stretch out and have someone feed me grapes….

Big ceiling fans keep you cool, and the free wireless ensures them regular visitation from the laptop luvvies. Handy, as the wireless in my hotel is about as reliable as 3 broadband customer services back in Blighty. Bad…

The waiter, well, he’s his own variety of delectable. No doubt Lady Muck (whose boyfriend seemed to like that nickname), wouldn’t approve, him being a worker and all….

Skipping back to KL for a moment if I may (almost over the lack of koala / oompaloompa sightings), when we were at the meeting at the airline, she noticed me clock a very fit, very handsome, and rather dirty technician in an overall.

Quite short, but muscled, stunning pearly whites, and a wicked grin I could read from 60,000 feet. He could easy have posed for an Asian Anne Geddes catalogue. Or, did she do babies? I’m thinking of the dude with two big car tyres greased up in overalls. Meh, anyhoo…

A slap to the arm, a firm yank, a loud no and marching orders proceeded. I was left somewhat stunned…

I was horrified to learn, I could do better than ‘a worker’. I mean, me and a worker, perish the thought ladies and gentleman. He was a baggage handler, therefore in a lowly social class all of his own. Apparently…

My argument of him not being for Christmas (well, it worked for all those puppies), didn’t wash. A valiant effort on my part, but it seems the race / sex / status fixations in Singapore run deep. And I thought we were class obsessed in Britain.

Still, beer number two beckons. The signature fish ravioli in coconut sauce was rather special. Very melt in the mouth. Speaking of which, that waiters smile, could melt a lot more.

Note to self, no more beer here. I don’t have Robert Redford’s millions after all!

Iain doesn’t want to leave Blue Pumpkin…